


Pyrrhic

by Newt



Category: RWBY
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-25
Updated: 2016-08-22
Packaged: 2018-07-26 18:18:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 26,914
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7584967
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Newt/pseuds/Newt
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Pyrrha Nikos is dead. She remembers it all, the fight, the loss, the pain, and the finality of dying. Yet, somehow, she wakes up the next day like nothing has happened at all.<br/>Forced to relive the day of her death over and over, Pyrrha struggles to change destiny once and for all, before she loses everything and everyone that she was fighting for in the first place.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. second chance

It would seem that time goes slower when you’re dying.

Pyrrha watched the arrow trace a path towards her heart, completely unable to move out of its way. She saw the face of her enemy, vengeful and cruel, still holding her bow, poised for a close-range killing shot. A million thoughts flashed through Pyrrha’s head, crawling over one another, colliding in a flash of colour and sound.

When the arrow found its mark, it was pain unlike anything she’d ever felt. She became hyper aware of every muscle, every nerve, every pint of blood flowing through her, and her body separated from her being as she choked and coughed and tried desperately to get some air into her lungs, which were pierced through by the arrow.

But the body knows when it’s dying.

Soon she relaxed, adrenaline taking over. The world grew fuzzy around the edges, sounds dulled, and her muscles gave up as she leaned forward, head meeting something solid.

She wished it would just let her fall. She was losing her grip on the world, memories flashing, mixing with the outside, people she loved smiling and laughing, until she couldn’t separate the real from the fantasy. 

She felt a wind, strong and warm, ready to take her away to the next world.

She was tired, so tired.

She lost her grip on her body, and gave herself to the wind.

*****

With a shuddering gasp, Pyrrha opened her eyes. She was lying on her side, wrapped in something. Her first thought was that she was being buried, wrapped up and inside a coffin. She felt her limbs come to life as she struggled to get out, and then, all at once, reality snapped back to her.

She realized that what she was kicking off of herself so violently was, in fact, a blanket. Her blanket. She heard even breathing to her left, felt a breeze tousle her hair, and her eyes adjusted to the light of morning.

“Oh, did I wake you up?”

Pyrrha’s tongue felt thick in her mouth, and she couldn’t bring herself to say anything as she sat up, turning to face the source of the voice.

Nora stood at the window, fully dressed and ready for the day. She still had her hands on the pane, having opened the window to greet the day, just like always. 

“Uh…”

Pyrrha managed to choke out a sound, feeling weak again. She brought her hands up to her chest, to find that she wasn’t wearing any gloves. She was still in her pyjamas, hair loose and chest covered by a thin layer of fabric.

She curled her hand into a fist over where the arrow had planted itself. No pain whatsoever. What was… going on?

“Nora, are you alright? Is the school…. what happened?”

She couldn’t get out a single thought, everything battling towards the front of her mind. Nora looked confused, and gave up on the window, making her way over to Pyrrha’s bedside.

“Did you have a weird dream or something? Don’t tell me you didn’t get enough sleep! You need to be well-rested for the singles tournament!”

“The… singles… tournament?”

Pyrrha dropped her face into her hands. Horrible memories came flooding back. The tearing of metal limbs, the screams of the audience, a cold voice over every speaker…

There was a rustling in the bed next to her. Jaune was awake. 

“Goood morning, Jaune!” called Nora. Jaune usually took a bit of prodding to get out of bed, so they’d learned to start working on him the moment he showed any sign of life.

Pyrrha peeked through her hands at him, still feeling the weight of her death. It had all seemed so incredibly, vividly real. 

Jaune muttered something, rolling over to face Pyrrha and Nora. His calmness only made Pyrrha more worried, somehow.

“You mean you don’t… remember… anything?” she asked, struggling to sound calm.

“Of course I do,” said Nora, face falling. “It’s really bad, what happened to Yang. I think I saw general Ironwood go into their dorm earlier.”

Nora crossed her arms, tapping her foot.

“Yang…?” said Pyrrha. “No I… right.”

She took a shuddering breath.

“Yang.”

A dream, then? Had it really all been a dream? She’d certainly never dreamed an entire day like that before. And it had all seemed so real…

Struck with a sudden vertigo, she hugged her legs, resting her forehead on her knees. She took a few deep breaths, trying to sort through her vivid memories of screaming and running and death. 

Her death.

“Pyrrha?” 

Jaune’s voice was heavy with sleep, but still edged with concern. Bless his heart. 

She forced herself to look at him.

“Is everything okay?”

She nodded.

“Just… a weird dream, I suppose.”

She wasn’t entirely convinced of that, but she certainly didn’t want to worry her teammates anymore.

“We should go check on Yang later!” said Nora, bouncing on the balls of her feet. 

Nora bit her bottom lip, then whipped around to face Ren.

“That means it’s time to wake up, lazy butt!”

Pyrrha watched Nora run to the other end of the room, giving Ren’s sleeping form a hard shove. His covers ruffled as he struggled to not fall out of bed, then wearily pulled himself up.

On Pyrrha’s other side, Jaune sat up and threw his legs over the side of his bed. 

“Yeah. We should be there for team RWBY today,” Jaune said, stretching his arms in front of him.

“Team RWBY …” Pyrrha said, thoughts still scrambled in her head. She clearly remembered the feeling of this very morning. From here, Yang was disqualified, as announced to Pyrrha’s team by a defeated-looking Ruby, Blake, and Weiss. 

Pyrrha forced herself to get out of bed, legs solid and not painful in the least. She recalled the pain in her ankle after the first arrow, wincing to herself. Cinder had done that. But Cinder was just another student, wasn’t she?

She got dressed and ready mechanically, Nora at her side, humming a tuneless song. She knew Nora must be worried about Yang, but she never really showed any kind of worry or sadness. Pyrrha wished she could be as strong as Nora.

Her previous issues came rushing back to her. The fall maiden. Even after whatever she’d gone through, it would appear that she still had this decision to make.

Pyrrha made her way back to her dorm, standing nervously with her team as they watched the door of Team RWBY’s dorm. Nora fidgeted, Ren crossed his arms, and Jaune drummed his fingers on the doorframe.

Suddenly team RWBY’s door swung open, and Pyrrha looked out from behind her teammates as they all leaned out of the doorway.

“This is a mess,” said Weiss, voice defeated.

Jaune leaned forward, hand curling around the doorframe.

“She… doing okay?” he asked, concern lacing his words.

Team JNPR leaned out farther, waiting to hear the verdict. It was all so incredibly familiar. Pyrrha felt the weight of it pressing in on her. She knew exactly how all of this was going to play out.

“She’s… doing the best she can,” said Blake.

“I heard Mercury and his team rushed back to Haven to be with his family, so until they land no one can really question him about what happened,” said Ruby. She had the hunched posture of someone trying to be strong in the middle of something horrible.

Ren leaned forward, ever-ready to offer aid.

“If there’s anything we can do, please don’t hesitate to ask.”

It was all the same, exactly the same as she’d remembered. And that meant…

“Alright then, if that’s the case… Pyrrha?”

Pyrrha found herself sitting on a bed, bracing herself for a request that she didn’t want to fulfill. Not after what she’d seen. She gave a noncommittal sound, recoiling as six pairs of eyes focused on her. 

“You be sure to win one for Beacon, okay?” said Ruby, forcing a smile and raising her fists halfway. Pyrrha’s stomach twisted painfully.

“It’s what Yang would want,” Weiss agreed.

“I’ll…” Pyrrha couldn’t force out the rest of the sentence. How could she do her best, when all of this was so familiar? When she’d seen what kind of damage her ‘winning one for Beacon’ could do?

They were all staring at her now, expressions ranging from extreme confusion to extreme concern. Hating herself, she forced out the words.

“I’ll do my best.”

“Okay, well, I’ll be sure to watch tonight in case you’re picked,” said Ruby, smile falling. 

There was a mumble of further conversation from the hallway, but Pyrrha blocked it out. This was way too familiar. Too familiar for it to have been a dream at all. What, then, was happening?

Before she could think on it more, they were alone in their room again, and Nora burst forward into her space, staring straight into her eyes.

“You heard the lady! No more moping around!”

She punctuated every word with a firm shake of her head, and Pyrrha followed her with her eyes. She watched helplessly as Nora darted around, full workout gear on.

“We’ve gotta get your butt in shape for the big fight! It could be today! It could be tomorrow! It could be the most important fight of your entire life!”

She fell backwards, workout equipment scattered. Pyrrha folded her hands in her lap and fought back a smile.

“Um…”

Ren appeared, pink apron on and green smoothie held out in offering.

“Nora’s right. You can’t let your concern for Yang hold you back. You need to focus. You’ll be defending the honor of Beacon Academy.”

She twisted her hands.

“Of course… I…”

Ren shoved the smoothie closer to her.

“This blend of herbs and vegetables is filled with nutrients vital to your body’s wellbeing.”

“Oh! That’s…”

“Please, there’s no need to thank me.”

“Thank you? Aauugh that looks like slime from a lake bed!”

Pyrrha let herself smile a little as she observed the back-and-forth bickering of her two friends. They cheered her up, outwardly, but the back of her mind was still a battle between the stress of the fall maiden, and her weird, prophetic dream. This scene, too, was exactly as she remembered it. It frightened her, knowing what the day was building towards. She longed to change it, but didn’t know how.

“Hey, how about we all get some fresh air?”

Jaune, the voice of reason, cut through the bickering. He had a hand on Ren’s shoulder and a hand on Nora’s shoulder, parting them to smile at Pyrrha. She felt that familiar fluttering in her stomach, even through all of her misery. 

“That… would be lovely.”

*****  
  
Once again, Pyrrha was sitting alone. She couldn’t bring herself to be around the cheerfulness of the Vytal Festival’s fairgrounds, not when her thoughts were so muddled with despair.

Not when she couldn’t shake the feeling that something horrible was about to happen.

A leaf fluttered down, settling by her foot, reminding her that, even if her strange visions weren’t true, she still had a very weighty decision to make.

“Hey!”

She looked up to see Jaune, smiling, with some cotton candy outstretched. Her heart fluttered through her confusion, only adding extra emotions to her addled state of mind.

“It’s no green goop, but I think it might still do some good,” he said. 

She reached out and took the cotton candy from his hands, fingers brushing his. He settled down next to her, but she couldn’t bear to look at him. She remembered this, too. In her mind, it was the start of the terrible chain reaction of things that lead to the destruction of everything she cared about. 

There was a short silence, Jaune’s attention completely focussed on her. She wanted to lean into him and never look up again.

“You were the first person to ever believe in me, you know that?” he asked, gently prodding her out of her own head. “Even when I told my parents I was going to Beacon, they told me not to worry if I ended up having to move back home. How depressing is that?”

On instinct, she reassured him.

“I’m sure… they didn’t mean…”

His hand found hers, and she inhaled sharply, a tingling warmth spreading through her. Even the second time, he’d caught her completely off guard. She’d even dropped the cotton candy, again. His voice was gentle as he continued to speak.

“I guess I’m just trying to say that you’ve always been there for me, even when I didn’t deserve it. And I can tell there’s something on your mind so, I don’t know…” he took a breath. “How can I help?”

His face looked so kind, begging to know what she needed. She felt like crying and laughing all at once. In lieu of a response, she rested her head on his shoulder, feeling the warmth of him again. This, at least, had been a small mercy. It still was, although it did nothing to clear her mind.

“You’re… you’re already doing it.”

He tensed under her touch, then shifted, relaxing. She wished the day would stop moving forward right here. 

But, no. What came next came rushing back to her, and she jolted forward

“I have to go,” she said, dread weighing on her stomach.

“Wh… what do you mean?” he asked, blinking at her. 

“I can’t be here,” she said, frantically, jumping to her feet.

“Pyrrha, wait! Did I do something wrong?” he asked, standing up after her.

This time, she forced herself to answer him. She owed him that much.

“No! Of course not. I just… I don’t….”

“You don’t?”

“I don’t want to hurt you,” she said, desperately, turning away.

“What do you…”

She was gone before she could hear his reply.

*****

A sweep of the hand.

A million swords. Ten million.

A clacking of metal. A blur of motion.

All of them, pointed at her heart.

The pain of the last night shot through her again, putting her every nerve on edge. She closed her eyes, hands shaking as she swiped them forward, reaching out with her semblance. 

But… wait. She couldn’t… she didn’t want…

As if in slow motion, the cords wrapped around the girl across from her. Again. Just as before, she watched in horror as Penny Polendina was crushed, torn apart by Pyrrha's own hands.

She sunk to her knees, eyes wide with horror. Twice now, she’d been a murderer. 

She could have stopped it. 

She had seen this happen. 

In that moment, it became true for her. This HAD happened before. Somehow, impossibly, she had been given another chance at this day. 

And now, she’d ruined everything again. 

She froze completely, locked into her own mind, as the world shut down and a cruel voice reverberated around her.

"This... is not a tragedy."

Her heart thundered against her rib cage.

"This... was not an accident."

She couldn’t hear it anymore. She was going to be sick. She pressed her hands against her ears, holding back the scream fighting in her throat.

The stadium pitched around her, shaking and rolling. People were running out, grimm were closing in, the world was ending, people were in trouble, and she was going to die.

Just as she knew it would, a nevermore landed in front of her, the shock wave blowing her backwards onto her hands and knees. A voice at the back of her mind dimly told her to fight it, to do her job as a huntress, but the fear and sorrow paralyzed her. And then, just as before, Ruby rocketed forward, defending her even though she didn’t deserve it.

“Leave her alone!” Ruby cried, swinging wildly with Penny’s dropped sword.

“Ruby?” 

Pyrrha could barely choke out her friend's name. How could she make her understand that she’d failed? That she’d just killed Ruby's friend for the second time?

In a crash of falling lockers, the nevermore was pinned to the ground. People were everywhere, swarming it and fighting. But she still couldn’t help them, couldn’t command her useless legs to move.

“Ruby, I don’t deserve this. I’m so… I’m so sorry…”

“Don’t say that,” said Ruby, turning to face her with a determined expression. “I’m sorry too, but this wasn’t your fault.”

“She’s right.”

Pyrrha pitched backwards at Jaune’s voice. She didn’t want him to see her like this. She was supposed to be fearless for him. He walked towards her, extending a hand. Fighting back her shame, she took it, and allowed him to pull her to unsteady legs. She dared to look into his eyes, the sheer blueness of them always blowing her away. 

“Whoever was on the microphone. They’re the ones that did this,” he said. He held out her weapons, and she took them, letting the familiar feel of them coax her back to reality. 

“We have to make sure they don’t take anyone else,” he said, eyes locked on hers.

She nodded, steely resolve filling her as she stared into his eyes. This was her job. She was a huntress and, above all, she’d been given a second chance. She wouldn't let the rest of it go to waste. 

She could still stop this, stop Cinder before she…

“Griffons,” said Ren, somewhere in the distance. Sure enough, the smaller grimm were descending on them now. Pyrrha launched into her fighter’s stance, preparing to defend her friends.

“Students. I think it would be best for you to leave,” said Professor Port, weapon at the ready. Pyrrha hadn’t noticed him appear, Professor Oobleck at his side.

“But we can hel…” Ruby began.

“Miss Rose!” interrupted Professor Oobleck. “This day will surely go down in Remnant’s history. I would prefer that my students live to tell about it.”

Pyrrha clenched her fists harder around miló and akoúo̱. Live. She had to live to tell about this. Ruby nodded, a split-second decision was made, and they all dashed away.

“Let’s go!”

******

As soon as their ship touched down at Beacon, Pyrrha knew what she had to do. She was among the first people off the ship, breaking into a dead run towards the main building. 

“Where’s she going?” cried Nora, somewhere behind her.

“I don’t know!” yelled Jaune, and she heard his footsteps tearing after her, unable to so much as give a command to Ren and Nora without losing Pyrrha in the swarm of grimm.

She knew she couldn’t stop him. He would be there. He had been there yesterday, too.

Pyrrha dodged around grimm, giving the occasional fighting jab or slamming into one with her shield. She heard the sounds of pursuit behind her, and stopped to barrel into a boarbatusk, slashing with calculated movements, rolling to the side, and then hitting it in the soft underbelly. She didn’t want to leave too many grimm for whoever was following her now.

Eventually she thrust open the doors of the main building, dashing inside. She skidded to a stop, muscles still ready to jump into action.

Just as she’d expected, Professor Ozpin was standing there stoically. He didn’t seem surprised to see her in the least.

“Hello, Ms. Nikos,” he said, adjusting his grip on his cane.

“Hello again, professor,” she said, giving a weak smile. “I…”

Before she could finish her thought, the door opened again and three people crashed through it.

“Pyrrha, where are you…! Oh, Professor Ozpin.”

Jaune practically skidded to a stop before the headmaster, and Ren and Nora actually ran into him, bouncing backwards cartoonishly. 

“Ren? Nora?” she breathed. This was different. Definitely different. Jaune rubbed the back of his head, apparently hurt to be excluded.

“It’s crazy out there!” said Nora, hands flung into the air. Ren nodded. 

The three looked at Ozpin expectantly, not knowing what was truly at stake. She looked into the faces of her team, her wonderful, wonderful team, all at once glad they were here and scared for their well-being. 

Ozpin turned without a word, and headed towards the elevator. Pyrrha nodded to her team and then followed, knowing that no amount of explaining would do any good.

They all piled in, and wordlessly descended to the vault. Pyrrha couldn’t meet any of her teammate’s eyes, but she heard them shuffling around, Nora muttering something.

As the doors slid open, a wave of anxiety overtook Pyrrha once more. She boxed it up, and took off at a run after Professor Ozpin. Three pairs of footsteps followed her. 

She had no idea if this would change things. This time she was here earlier, with more people to watch and see if Cinder appeared. Maybe, just maybe…

“What is this place?” asked Jaune, catching up to her. 

“It’s… a type of vault,” she said, gnawing on the inside of her lip. She was suddenly struck by the meaning of all of this. Best case scenario, she was about to become the fall maiden. She was back with her original dilemma, and the anxiety of it all rolled around her stomach, choking her.

“You’ve been here?” asked Nora, pulling up beside them.

“Is this school hiding something?” asked Ren, darkly.

“What? Who?” 

She hated hiding this from them. She hated what she was about to do. But a tiny, selfish, part of her was so glad that they were here for her when she needed them all so much.

They came up to the pods, and she looked back at her teammates, overwhelmed by just how much she cared about them all. Her friends. Her first true friends. She would do anything for them, she would die for them, and here she was, quite possibly about to do just that. Jaune looked the most panicked, taking a half-step towards her.

“Jaune…” she said. She wanted to tell him everything. To tell him all about the maidens, and to tell him that things would be alright. But they had no time, and she had no way of knowing what would happen next. Professor Ozpin spared her the pain.

“Pyrrha, get to the pod. Mr. Arc, Ms. Valkyrie, Mr. Ren, if you’d like to help, stand guard here.”

They exchanged a look between the three of them, then Nora raised her hammer. With that, they fanned out, not looking back.

Pyrrha stood before the pods, steeling herself for what was to come. The pain, the uncertainty, but a small spark of hope that it could go differently this time. 

“I’m ready, Professor Ozpin,” she said, trying to keep her voice steady.

Ozpin nodded, face vaguely sad. He opened the pod, and she took a deep breath before crawling in. He took his place at the controls, and the world was silenced as the hatch closed. It was a horribly claustrophobic feeling, but she fought through the urge to call for a cancel of the transfer.

Professor Ozpin looked back at her, concern creasing his brow.

“You’re sure about this?”

A flash of pain. An arrow in her chest. Jaune’s face as she sent him away. Hazily, impossibly, a kiss. She took a deep breath, willing herself to be calm, dwelling on the happy memories, of what could be if this went well.

“Yes.”

“Thank you, Ms. Nikos.”

And then, pain. Explosions all over her body, every nerve, muscle and sinew screaming, piercing through her heart and squeezing her lungs until she couldn’t breathe or think or feel anything except pain, so much pain. Screams erupted from her throat.

“…ha!”

“Pyrrha!”

“Py…”

She heard her name in every direction, from many different voices, cutting through her agony. But, no… they were supposed to be watching the door. They had to watch the door, because…

A shattering sound, and then the pain was gone. Her limbs tingled and feeling returned. She slumped against the back of the pod, a rush of feeling returning to her. But, then, it must be…

She opened her eyes to the sight of Cinder, bow raised at the far end of the vault.

It couldn’t be.

Not again.

The torches went out with a sweep, and they were all plunged into darkness. Jaune immediately raised his weapon, followed by Ren and Nora. They began to rush at Cinder, and her heart leapt into her throat. No. They weren’t strong enough.

“Stay back!” yelled Ozpin, just as the three were blasted away. 

“No!” Pyrrha yelled, voice rising through her burning throat. She hit against the door of the pod with all of her strength, blasting it off and towards Cinder, who deflected it effortlessly, with a smirk. 

She jumped out of the pod, ready to fight, but Ozpin held her back.

“Take these three and get out of here! Find Glynda, Ironwood, Qrow, bring them here right away! The tower cannot fall!”

No. She knew how this ended. It was all too real, and she couldn’t stop it. Couldn’t do anything.

“Let me help!” she begged, raising her shield.

“You’ll only get in the way,” said Ozpin, taking on a fighting stance. Cinder reared up, preparing to strike out with her new powers.

“No, please! I can…”

“Go!”

She felt a tugging on her arm, and saw Jaune, backed by Ren and Nora.

“We have to get out of here, she’s too strong!” he shouted, eyes wild.

“Come on!” said Nora. Pyrrha had never seen her look so serious or scared before.

“Let’s go,” said Ren, giving her shoulder a light tap. He had made his way behind her, coaxing her to go.

Every fiber of her being told her to stay, told her she could change things if she took this into her own hands. But she didn’t want to put her friends in danger. She owed them so much now, an explanation at least.

She broke into a run once more, cutting a path around Cinder and back towards the elevator. 

She focused on Nora’s back, rushing ahead, Jaune panting beside her, and Ren’s footsteps behind her. This was hell, but she wasn’t alone. She wasn’t alone. She repeated this mantra over and over as they approached the elevator. The only light they had to run by were the flashes of combat behind them.

Then, a sudden tongue of fire behind her. She felt the warmth of it singe into her scalp, followed by a horrible noise unlike any she’d heard before. She wheeled around just in time to see one of the vault’s great columns collapse in a shower of rubble.

“Pyrrha!” Jaune shoved her hard in the shoulder, and she rolled out of harm’s way just in time. Her world became darkness and pointy column pieces digging into her skin and coughing through the dust. She ignored her protesting lungs and rocketed upwards again, ready to fight. But what she saw made her fall to her knees immediately.

“REN!”

Nora’s scream was animalistic, her movements shaky as she threw herself to the ground.

“REN!!!”

She kept screaming his name, splitting the air that was already thick with the sounds of battle. Nora’s hands worked furiously, digging through the rubble, Jaune standing beside her, eyes wide and mouth slack with shock. But Pyrrha could see what they couldn’t.

An arm, cloaked in green, bent at a horrible, unnatural angle, sticking out from underneath a large section of column. Her senses numbed and she felt nothing, nothing at all, maybe she was laughing, even, as she crawled forward towards her friend’s broken body.

She became dimly aware of her scroll ringing and, dumbly, with swollen fingers, answered it.

“Pyrrha! Are you okay? Where did you all go? I took down a ship but we need backup out here!”

She barely registered Ruby’s voice, kicking her scroll away as she scrambled towards Ren again.

Nora was full-on screaming now, hideous sobs shaking her body as she dug and dug and dug. 

There was another shriek, wild and inhuman, as Jaune charged into the battle, trying to take on Cinder from behind. Her vision faded in and out as she watched him go. No. No no no no no no…

She brought herself to her feet, not fully feeling anything as her body took over, falling into a familiar combat pattern. She shoved Jaune aside, not too gently, and took off after Cinder herself. 

Two giant flames crashed together, illuminating the pitch darkness of the room. Pyrrha was blasted backwards, but she got up again, images of Ren cooking and sleeping and studying and laughing and training flooding her brain until she felt like throwing up. She launched herself at Cinder again, a lump building painfully in her throat. 

No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t get into the battle between Cinder and Ozpin. The two were well-matched, completely locked into their fight with each other. Pyrrha was barely an annoyance, and Cinder just kept swatting Pyrrha away as she hyperventilated and doubled over with the pain of it all. 

A thousand, a million attempts. She managed to hit her a few times, wrestle with her. She tried to grasp whatever metals she could find, but there was nothing. Jaune kept trying to join her, but she wouldn’t let him, holding him back desperately with her semblance.

She heard shrieking behind her, cutting through even Nora’s sobs, muffled now.

She turned around, the world blurring once more. 

She saw Ruby, running towards Ren, fighting to see his broken form for herself. 

She saw Nora, pressing herself into Ren’s uncovered body, shaking violently with sobs.

She saw another flash of light as Cinder took Ozpin by surprise, and heard the sickening sound of him hitting something, hard.

She saw Jaune slide forward, her hold on him slowly releasing as Ruby threw her head back and screamed Ren’s name.

And then, the world turned white.

A flash of blinding light from Ruby’s eyes, enveloping the room, blurring everything around them all.

She heard Cinder shout, and then, nothingness.

The whiteness overtook her, and she welcomed it.

She gave herself to the wind once more.


	2. Third Chance

A shape reached out to her in the darkness. It whispered something, cutting through her aching mind. She had no body, no form at all, and the more she tried to see the shape, the more it dissolved until, eventually, it left her completely alone.

Pyrrha woke up with tears in her eyes, sweat drenching her loose hair. 

A breeze played across her face as she rubbed at her eyes, groggily.

“Good morning, sleepy head!” 

She turned to see Nora, fully dressed and sticking her hands out of the window. In that moment, everything came rushing back to her.

“Ren!” she choked out. She stumbled out of bed, dragging her blankets to the ground and almost tripping as she made her way to his bed.

Her teammate lay there, chest rising and falling in sleep. It was the most welcome thing she had ever seen in her entire life. She touched her fingers to his arm, then covered her mouth, blinking back tears.

“Pyrrha?” 

In the time it had taken her to adjust to seeing Ren alive, Jaune had apparently woken up. He now stood behind her, voice deep and crackly like it always was in the morning. She turned to see him there, eyes bleary with sleep and lips pressed together in concern. Nora stood beside him, one eyebrow raised.

“You’re acting… weird,” she said, crossing her arms. 

“I… I’m sorry,” said Pyrrha, burying her face in her hands. Somehow, impossibly, she was living this day over again. It was true. It wasn’t a dream. Something had happened, and she didn’t know what, but she simply didn’t care at all. Ren was alive. He was breathing and moving and okay.

Ren sat up, apparently awake now.

“Um… hello,” he said, frowning slightly. “What exactly are you three doing?”

He eyed Nora.

“What! Don’t look at me like that!” said Nora, putting a hand over her heart in fake hurt. “This isn’t a prank or anything. I mean, that does sound like something I’d do, but it’s actually not. Jaune, tell him.”

Jaune’s shockingly blue eyes met Pyrrha’s. She felt electricity flow through her, down to her toes. He gave her a short look of concern, then mercifully changed the topic.

"It’s nothing, Ren,” he said, still looking into Pyrrha’s eyes.

“Told you,” said Nora triumphantly. She was apparently fine with changing the topic from Pyrrha’s weirdness

“Anyway, I… I wonder how team RWBY’s doing?” said Nora. “I think I saw General Ironwood go in there earlier. I hope it’s not too serious.”

Jaune looked away, and Pyrrha breathed again. 

“Yeah, I hope Yang’s okay,” he said. “I just… I don’t know what to think about what happened.”

“I don’t believe Yang would do something like that. There must be more to the story,” said Ren, sleepily stepping out of bed and joining their circle.

Nora nodded, hands curling into fists.

Pyrrha couldn’t even think about Yang at all right now. Just seeing her own team happy and whole, completely unaffected by what she’d seen last night, was enough to make everything seem alright again. 

Except, she slowly realized, everything wasn’t alright. It was the day of the singles tournament, again. She’d killed Penny twice, died once, seen Ren die once, and twice caused a major attack on Beacon. She had a third chance now, somehow. So how would she spend it?

Pyrrha got dressed and ready robotically again, trying to fight back the horrible memories that threatened to surface. Nora hummed beside her as she brushed her hair. 

What could Pyrrha do differently that would somehow keep everyone safe? The fall maiden, and her unstoppable powers, jumped to mind, but she really didn’t want to make any hasty decisions in regards to that. The problem, then, would have to be cut off at the root. Both days, everything had started during her match against Penny Polendina. Which meant that today, that absolutely could not happen.

For a third time, Pyrrha found herself apprehensively staring at the door to team RWBY’s dorm. Nora fidgeted, Ren crossed his arms, and Jaune drummed his fingers on the doorframe.

The door swung open, everyone leaned out, and Pyrrha sat immediately on the bed, knowing what she had to do.

“This is a mess,” said Weiss, voice defeated.

Jaune leaned forward, hand curling around the doorframe.

“She… doing okay?” he asked, concerned.

Team JNPR leaned out farther, waiting to hear the verdict. 

“She’s… doing the best she can,” said Blake. Pyrrha folded her hands in her lap, steeling herself. Ruby was next.

“I heard Mercury and his team rushed back to Haven to be with his family, so until they land no one can really question him about what happened.”

Pyrrha squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for it.

“If there’s anything we can do, please don’t hesitate to ask.”

First Ren, and then…

“Alright then, if that’s the case… Pyrrha?”

She forced herself to smile, but it probably turned out more like a grimace.

“Yes?”

“You be sure to win one for Beacon, okay?” 

Ruby raised her fists, trying to find the positivity as always.

“It’s what Yang would want,” Weiss agreed.

“I’m…” Pyrrha took a deep breath. She looked at all of her friends, one by one, then settled on staring at a catch in the rug instead.

“I’m… actually going to withdraw from the tournament today.”

There were general gasps from the others, and she flinched. Now that it was out there, though, she felt more confident. She dared to look up at everyone again.

“I’m sorry, everyone. I just… I really can’t fight right now.”

“Are you sick?” asked Ruby, face scrunched in concern. Pyrrha gave a tight smile.

“Something like that.”

“Well we can’t just give up! Should I fight for you? I can still fight for you, right?” asked Nora, waving her arms wildly.

“We already sent in confirmation of our nominee,” said Jaune. He was frowning slightly, arms folded. “If Pyrrha withdraws, we’re out.”

Pyrrha bit back an apology, trying desperately to convey to Jaune, wordlessly, that there was so much more at stake. His face softened, and his lips parted in concern. Maybe she was getting somewhere.

“Quite frankly that’s… unexpected,” said Weiss, glancing from Jaune to Nora and back. “It would be a shame for there to be no representatives from Beacon in the singles tournament.”

“No, it’s okay,” said Jaune, waving a hand dismissively. “We still have three more years, guys. Next year we’ll all make it, I’m sure.”

Blake sighed deeply.

“To be honest, I think I’ve had enough fighting for one year,” she said.

Weiss nodded.

“Me as well. Well, does anyone want coffee?”

“Tea,” said Blake.

“Maybe if there are some snacks or something,” mumbled Ruby, crestfallen. It was upsetting to see Ruby so sad about her resignation, but Pyrrha knew it had to be done. And, now that it was done, she felt an incredible lightness. No more Penny dying. No more grimm attacks. Just another day at Beacon, and another day of bought time before she had to make the weightiest decision of her life.

“Maybe no coffee,” said Ren, eyeing Nora, who was bouncing slightly on her toes. “But it is true that none of us have eaten yet.”

“Yeah! Food!” said Nora, punching forward. 

Pyrrha’s heart sank. She wasn’t particularly hungry, after all that she’d been through. She bit her lip, slouching lower. She would maybe just stay behind, collect her thoughts…

She looked up, and Jaune was right there, looking at her with the same concern he’d been holding all morning. Her stomach fluttered in the way it only did when he was focused on her. He turned back to Ren and Nora.

“Do you guys maybe want to stay in today?” he asked. “We could make it a pancake day.”

Nora lit up.

“Like a… like a JNPR pancake Saturday?”

“You can’t have JNPR pancake Saturday on a Wednesday,” said Ren, shaking his head, yet smiling with the corner of his mouth.

“JNPR pancake Wesnesday, then. Pancakes can be more than once a week. This is DISCRIMINATION,” said Nora, punching the air.

Ren sighed deeply, but he was already putting on his apron.

“Fine…”

“We’ll leave you to that, then,” said Ruby. “See you all later, I guess.”

“Bye guys,” said Jaune. “Tell Yang we’re rooting for her.”

*****

The familiar smell of pancakes on the grill, mixed with the sunny dorm kitchen and Nora’s constant chatter, settled Pyrrha’s nerves in a way that nothing else really could. It was all so normal and welcome, so far removed from the tournament happening in the outside world, that she almost forgot that there were still a million other things going wrong in her life.

She watched Ren make pancakes like a pro, and tried her best to erase his death in her mind. It still shook her to her core, but he was here and now, and she had to focus on him being okay. On everything being okay.

She sat at the high table with Jaune, while Ren methodically stacked pancakes and Nora stood and told them all about this dream she’d had the last night.

“So then I decided that I needed to find the missing beowolf before someone got really hurt, so I asked Zwei if he’d seen it. And he told me that it was hiding underneath the school. And I was running toward it, but then I woke up.”

She crossed her arms, waiting for their verdict.

“The dog told you that?” asked Ren, adding two new pancakes to the stack.

“Yeah! He was a talking dog,” said Nora, with a single nod. “Anyway I’m sure I’ll catch the beowolf in my next dream.”

She looked to Ren excitedly, and he gave a half-thumbs-up. Nora jolted, suddenly, remembering something.

“Oh my gosh, Pyrrha, you have to see what I found in Vale the other day.”

Pyrrha was brought out of her own thoughts. She’d been observing them all as if from another world, and had completely forgotten that she was really there, a part of the moment.

“Hmm?”

Nora took off towards their shared pantry, and opened the door to the shelf marked “TEAM JNPR” (with an added sticky note that said “please ask before taking flour – Ren”). She reached in behind a large bag of sugar, taking something out and hiding it behind her back. She inched back towards the table just as Ren finished off the pancakes, pushing them towards the middle of the table.

“Are you ready for this?” asked Nora, a devilish grin lighting her face.

“I… yes?” said Pyrrha.

With a flourish, Nora plunked down a box of Pumpkin Pete’s Marshmallow Flakes Cereal, complete with the triumphant face of Sanctum-aged Pyrrha. 

“Oh!” Pyrrha felt herself blushing as Jaune snatched up the box.

“I love this stuff!” he said, laughing. “But my sisters used to always take all the marshmallows out of it and then it would just sit there on the shelf forever. Kind of, staring, you know. Wait, uh…”

Without fully realizing it, Pyrrha had stretched out her hand, trying to grab the box back from him.

“So it’s true. You are on a cereal box,” said Ren observationally.

“I TOLD you,” said Nora, cackling and swiping the box out of Jaune’s hand.

Pyrrha sighed, trying to will away her blush. It was admittedly pretty cool to be on a cereal box, but she definitely didn’t need to see her friends observing it like this. It was just weird.

“Nora!” 

She stretched out her hands towards the cereal, and Nora pulled back, still laughing evilly.

“Ooooh no, I’m taking good care of this. I love this stuff. I’m going to eat it forever. Make it LAST.”

“Ack…” Pyrrha gritted her teeth and sat back down. “Well, as long as you… like it…”

In response Nora tore open the box, then the bag, and poured some of the cereal directly into her mouth. She swallowed spectacularly, then patted her stomach, tucking the box underneath her chair. 

Pyrrha couldn’t help but laugh at the absurdity of it all, but her worries hit her again as soon as the silence set in. This was what she had to fight for. Mornings like this, with the most important people in her world.

They all took some pancakes and syrup, eating quickly and gratefully.

“Thank you for the pancakes, Ren,” said Pyrrha, cutting hers into perfect bites. Ren always added something extra to hers and his own, such as protein powder or buckwheat. Nora made faces when he mentioned it.

“Yeah, thanks Ren,” said Jaune.

“Mrnks Rurn,” said Nora, through a very full mouth.

Ren frowned at her, but didn’t bother commenting.

“You’re quite welcome. I’d say pancakes are good at fixing just about anything,” said Ren.

There was another silence. Pyrrha knew they were all waiting for her to speak, to give some reason for why they were here, eating pancakes, instead of out preparing for her singles match. What, exactly, did they have to fix?

Finally, Nora broke the silence.

“Pyrrha, we did so awesome in the doubles match! We fought so hard! It’s weird that you’re backing down like this, I’ve never seen you do anything like it before.”

Pyrrha found herself completely unable to eat another bite of food.

“I’m just honestly not feeling well, Nora. I’m sorry,” she said, offering a weak smile.

“What’s wrong? Fever? Sore throat? Nausea?” asked Nora, bouncing around with each suggestion.

“Um… sort of,” said Pyrrha weakly. 

Nora sighed deeply before sitting back down, and poked at her pancakes with a betrayed look.

“If this is about Yang, you shouldn’t let your concern for her hold you back,” said Ren, sawing off a piece of pancake.

“I assure you, it’s not,” said Pyrrha. She wished they’d just believe her. 

Jaune was looking back and forth between them all with a slight frown, chewing his pancakes slowly. 

Nora huffed out a breath through her nose, and an uneasy tension settled on the four of them. They finished their pancakes quickly, while Pyrrha sunk deeper and deeper into despair. She didn’t want to upset her team, or let them down, but she had no way of telling them her true reasoning. 

Jaune kept shooting her concerned looks, but she ignored him, heart sinking. There was really nothing she could say to him that would make this any better.

Jaune took all of their dishes, dropping them by the sink for later. 

“Hey, how about we all get some fresh air?” he asked, turning back around to face his teammates. 

The frosty atmosphere remained, but Ren and Nora looked to Pyrrha for guidance. She felt suddenly queasy at the suggestion, the same as it had been for the last two days.

“I… think I’d rather stay in today,” she said weakly. “You three can go out if you’d like…”

“Nah, it was just an idea,” said Jaune, waving his hands. “How about we do something else together? Watch a movie? Play some cards?”

Nora rocketed out of her chair, immediately in a good mood again.

“I just learned the BEST new game. Everyone follow me!”

******

Pyrrha took a deep breath, steeling herself. The last time she had come here to speak to Ozpin, her worldview had been altered forever, and she’d been left with the worst decision she’d ever faced.

Today, she was going to change that. 

She raised her fist as steadily as possible, and knocked on the giant doors that led to Professor Ozpin’s office. 

Several moments later, the doors opened, and there he stood, sipping from his mug and examining her over the top of his glasses.

“Ah, Ms. Nikos. To what do I owe this visit?”

“Professor, I’d like to resign from the Vytal Festival Tournament,” she said, voice steady. There was no point dancing around the subject.

He stared at her calculatingly, adjusting his grip on his cane.

“…Why don’t you come in and have a seat, Ms. Nikos?” he said, slowly.

She nodded, clasping her hands together and taking the long walk across his office to the guest chair in front of his desk. Gears swirled around her from every angle, a constant churn of time and motion. She remembered, distantly, the gears crashing to the ground, the strain of her muscles as she willed them towards Cinder… and suddenly her mind was overtaken by her last trip to this office. 

The last time she was here, she had died. 

She forced herself to keep her breathing even, and shook herself out of her stupor, looking across the table and into the eyes of Professor Ozpin, calm and calculating. As soon as he had her attention, he spoke

“Does this, by chance, have something to do with the Fall Maiden?”

Pyrrha frowned, sitting up as straight as possible. She had to be confident and sane in order to get her way through this.

“No, sir. It doesn’t.”

He examined her again, then let out a sigh.

“Ms. Nikos, I understand that I’ve saddled you with a very weighty decision. One that will change the course of your life forever. But you should still allow yourself the simple pleasures of being a student at this school. You’ve been training hard for this moment, and I believe you should forget your worries and do your best to enjoy it.”

“No! I mean, professor, I was being honest. This is a completely separate matter.”

He stared at her for a while again, and she was given the weird impression that he could see through her. He seemed to peer into her mind, examining everything that could be troubling her. Mind you, he definitely couldn’t guess the truth of this matter. That she’d lived this day twice before.

“Very well, if it is your wish, I will notify those who run the tournament that you wish to withdraw. I trust you’ve thought this through,” he said, still giving her that weighty look. She dared herself to not look away.

“Thank you, Professor,” she said. 

“Will that be… all, then?” he asked, letting his chin fall onto his steepled fingers. 

“Um… yes, sir,” she said, feeling the weight of the Fall Maiden heavy again in her chest.

“Enjoy your day, then,” he said, leaning back with another sigh. “Just remember, we do require your decision soon.”

“Y… yes, sir.”

The click of Pyrrha’s boots reverberated through the empty office as she made her way to the door. She pushed it open and stepped back into the hallway without so much as a backwards glance. 

As soon as she was fully alone, she allowed herself to pause, letting the weight of everything fully hit her. She took a few breaths, bringing her hand to her heart. Her legs went weak and she forced herself to start walking again. This was it. She had changed everything. If this didn’t do it, she could think of very little else that would. She sped up, trying to keep her legs steady.

As a result, when she turned the corner she ran straight into Jaune.

“Aah! Oh, Jaune! I’m sorry!” she said. She realized she was standing on his foot, and took a step back.

He was carrying a drink in a paper cup, and struggling to steady it through the sudden shock. All at once he failed spectacularly, dumping the whole thing on the floor, Pyrrha’s boots, and his own jeans.

“I’m sorry!” Pyrrha said again, bringing a hand to her mouth.

“Wait, no, it’s my fault! Ouch, hot!” 

He pulled his jeans away from his legs, shifting from foot to foot. She couldn’t help but laugh a little and he grinned, pausing.

“So anyway… uh… hey!”

“Hello,” she said, shifting her feet to get out of the spreading puddle of what was definitely chai tea. One of her favourites.

“Well, it’s no pancakes, but I thought it might be a good fix. I guess it’s just kind of a mess now, though.”

“Well, thank you anyway,” she said, turning away from him. Had he followed her all this way?

As if reading her mind, he answered.

“Uh, this isn’t creepy, right? It’s just, Ren and Nora said they saw you going up here, and I walked around a bit trying to find you. I didn’t want the tea to get cold or anything. Not that it matters anymore. Wow, I should really find a way to clean this up.”

“It’s fine,” she said. “I can go get some paper towels from the bathroom down the hall…”

“You don’t have to! I can do it…”

After a few minutes of awkward talking and cleaning, the hallway was mostly better. The two stood back up, admiring their work.

“Well, I guess we have to go get some more tea now,” said Jaune, smiling at her weakly.

“Um, sure. If you want,” said Pyrrha, swiping a strand of hair out of her face. It was probably alright for her to go down to the café. She’d changed enough that everything was mostly safe.

“Unless you don’t want to!” Jaune said, waving his hands a little. “I just thought, since, you know, you wandered up here, maybe you were okay with going out somewhere. You did leave pretty suddenly.”

“Well, one can only be beaten at cards by Nora so many times in a row before having to call it quits,” she offered.

“That game was definitely something she just made up as we went along,” lamented Jaune. “Anyway…”

They started walking together back towards the elevator, then down and across the courtyard. There was a peaceful silence the whole time, where Pyrrha tried desperately not to look at him, or his face. Especially not his lips. Being alone with him was a sharp reminder of their last moments together on the first incarnation of this day…

“You were the first person to ever believe in me, you know that?” said Jaune. “Even when I told my parents I was going to Beacon, they told me not to worry if I ended up having to move back home. How depressing is that?”

It was the same conversation, again. Her stomach turned uncomfortably, and she responded as she always did.

“I’m sure… they didn’t mean…”

He shook his head, looking back at her as they walked.

“I guess I’m just trying to say that you’ve always been there for me, even when I didn’t deserve it. And I can tell there’s something on your mind so, I don’t know….” He paused, looking ahead, then turned back towards her. “How can I help?”

The sight of his face, so worried for her as they made their way through the crowds to the café, was enough to relax her even through all of her worries. No, not relax, exactly. It was just as though her problems took a back seat to his steadying words. 

“You’re already doing it,” she said, and she meant it.

He smiled a little, and the back of his hand brushed hers, just enough for her to know it was intentional. Her heart skipped.

Before she knew it, they were in front of the café. 

“Ruby, Weiss, Blake, Nora, and Ren are already in there, ready to watch the tournament. I hope that’s okay.”

She nodded, following him in. It was relatively dark inside, with a subdued atmosphere. They weaved through tables full of people eating and drinking and chatting, and towards the bar area, where she spotted all of their friends lined up at a long bar, sitting in front of the tournament’s feed.

“Hey guys, I found her,” said Jaune, pulling up a chair beside Ren. 

“Yaay!” said Ruby, waving at them both.

“You two smelled like you rolled through a field of spices,” said Weiss, wrinkling her nose. “What happened?”

“I… might have spilled Pyrrha’s drink,” said Jaune. 

Ren sighed.

“Which is why I’m ordering another tea! Two other teas!” he said, signalling to the man behind the counter. The man nodded wordlessly, and got to work. 

“I’m glad you’re here, Pyrrha,” said Nora, leaning across Ren and Jaune towards her. “It’s probably more fun to watch the match with you than to watch you in the match, anyway.”

Nora gave Pyrrha her winning Nora smile, but Pyrrha knew there was more behind it than usual. Even though her words were obvious lies, it was an apology. And she was endlessly grateful to Nora for understanding.

“I think so too. Thank you, Nora,” she said.

“Oh, the match is starting!” shouted Ruby, pointing at the screen.

Sure enough, the feed showed the competitors lining up on the stage, waving and smiling to the audience. Pyrrha’s stomach twisted. Surely, surely, things would go better this time.

The announcers began their banter, and the randomization process began. Professor Port’s voice crackled through the café speakers.

“It looks like our first contender is… Penny Polendina from Atlas!”

The barista slid Pyrrha tea in a mug, and she gripped it for dear life, her hands burning. So the Penny aspect of the fight hadn’t changed. 

“And her opponent will be…”

Pyrrha held her breath.

“Sun Wukong, from Haven!”

“Wow, two friends right off the bat,” said Ruby, clenching her fists in excitement. “This is gonna be great! What do you think, who’s going to win?”

“Sun has been training quite a bit,” said Blake, sipping her tea. “It’ll be an interesting fight for sure.

Pyrrha couldn’t tear her eyes away from the screen. She had some horrible, guttural feeling that something bad was going to happen.

She watched as the match began, ignoring all of her friends’ banter.

Sun was a good fighter for sure, dodging and parrying all of Penny’s strikes just as well as Pyrrha herself had. Penny managed to land a few heavy blows, but he countered with quick footwork and a huge attitude that shone even through his fighting style. 

He employed his semblance pretty early on, creating two shimmering clones that ganged up on Penny, who swiped her swords around in a pattern that made pretty quick work of them. She seemed to be gaining the upper hand, and raised her swords to strike.

Then, suddenly, something about Sun changed. He took a step back, face frozen in mute horror as he stared at something only he could see. 

Pyrrha gasped, whipping her head around to see if anyone else noticed. They were all smiling and chatting pleasantly, apparently not picking up at all on Sun’s horror.  
But Penny wasn’t doing anything. She was just raising her swords like normal. Something was very, very wrong. 

Just as Pyrrha came to this revelation, Sun swung wildly, his semblance flashing as he planted a killing blow right into Penny’s chest.

It was the kind of blow that had absolutely no place in a friendly competition. Whatever Sun had seen was obviously so horrible that he couldn’t stand to fight honourably anymore. It was so vividly familiar to Pyrrha. 

She jumped out of her chair, mouth open in a silent scream as Penny split in two, crackling and rolling and dying once more.

This was it.

It had happened again.

Nothing had changed. The only difference was that Pyrrha had spent the day being a coward, not trying to really help anything or save anyone. Tears sprung to her eyes, and she choked back a sob. 

The café around her fell into stunned silence. Her friends all watched the screen in horror, Ruby being the only one to fully take in what had happened, crying silently into her hands as a horribly familiar voice took over.

“This was not a tragedy.”

“This was not an accident.”

No. This wasn’t happening. This couldn’t be happening. Not again.

This time, she had to do something.

Pyrrha tugged on Jaune’s arm, forcing him out of his trance and to attention.

“We have to go!” she cried, glancing at everyone. “We have to get out there before the grimm attack!”

“What do you mean?” asked Jaune, but it was too late. People had heard her shouting about grimm, and the spell of the voice’s words, Cinder’s words, was broken. 

“This is what happens when you hand over your trust, your safety, your children, to men who claim to be our guardians but are, in reality, nothing more than men.”

Chaos erupted in the café, and people scrambled over each other in their panic to get out of the door. She watched Weiss help Ruby to her feet, and they all took off towards the fairgrounds.

Blake called Yang, and Team RWBY made some hasty plans as Pyrrha and the rest of JNPR lagged behind. 

As they ran, weird echoes of the woman’s message reverberated from various devices around the fairgrounds. Most everyone was mesmerized by it, but Pyrrha kept her teammates and friends on track, running towards the docks to greet whoever managed to make it out of the arena. 

“What do we do now?” asked Weiss, desperately. They slowed down as Blake tapped at her scroll, apparently done talking to Yang.

“We do our jobs,” said Blake, through gritted teeth. 

A locker came flying down from the sky, and Blake took off towards it as it opened to reveal her weapon.

Jaune nodded beside Pyrrha, and the rest of them took out their own scrolls, frantically summoning their weapons. Any second now, and this place would be overrun.

Sure enough, as soon as they finished grimm started to erupt from the sidelines. Pyrrha cried out as one pinned Ruby, who was still visibly shaken from watching her friend die.

Blake pulled the thing off her, and Pyrrha caught sight of another one, a beowolf, in the corner of her vision. She took off towards her locker, grabbed her weapon, then switched directions with a quick roll towards the beowolf, slashing with calculated movements, jumping and dodging the volley of attacks.

They were all locked in battle now, fending off the first wave of grimm from the civilians who had first started to run away.

She caught sight of Jaune, Nora, and Ren fighting the same ursa together, and made a special note to be careful with the three of them. She couldn’t watch another one of them die.

A few Atlesian Knights had joined them in battle now, and gunfire joined the screams around them in a sickening ensemble of suffering. 

Pyrrha took on another grimm, this one an ursa as well, and converted Miló into a gun as she flew towards it, firing. She quickly turned it back to a spear, rocketing up and sinking its blade into the back of the ursa’s neck. It let out a horrible, animalistic moan, then dissolved in a scatter of ashes. 

The two teams kept on like that for awhile, Pyrrha barely able to find her friends and check on them through all of the chaos. The knights were helping a bit, but a large ursa could make quick work of them. She shifted her attacks to focus on the bigger grimm, and was knocked back a few times.

Just as it seemed that the grimm were becoming too thick, too hard to fight back, she heard Jaune shouting through the pack.

“We can’t beat them like this! Everyone, to the docks!” 

There he was, the voice of leadership and reason in the thick of the moment. She felt something like pride as she pulled back, sliding past a boarbatusk and taking off at a sprint towards the docks.

She scanned to either side, trying to spot everyone in the dust of the fighting. She saw Ren and Nora to her left, and the three members of Team RWBY to her right. Jaune was a few steps ahead, leading the way to the docks. This was absolutely horrible, and they were fighting for their lives, but at least everyone was, as of this moment, safe and accounted for.

As if on cue, she heard Weiss gasp, and turned to face her.

Blake tackled Weiss and Ruby to the ground as a group of Atlesian Knights surrounded them, firing wildly into their midst. What was going on? 

Somehow, the knights had turned on them, and now they had double the enemies to fight.

She charged at the attackers alongside Ren and Nora, disabling the worst of them and helping Ruby, Weiss, and Blake back to their feet.

“Let’s keep going!” shouted Ruby, mouth trembling. They all took off once more.

They arrived at the docks just in time to see the ship arriving from the Vytal Festival arena.

“Backup,” whispered Jaune. “This is good.”

The ship docked and the doors opened slowly. As soon as the ramp was down, hoards of huntresses and huntsmen that Pyrrha recognized from earlier rounds of the tournament spilled out, taking off into the fray.

“Sun!” shouted Blake, running forward with Ruby and Weiss to greet their friend. Pyrrha followed, still shaken up by the similarities between his fight and hers.

“Sun, are you okay?” Blake asked, putting a hand on his shoulder.

“Yeah. I… ugh…” he scrunched his eyes shut. “Ruby, I’m… your friend Penny… I…”

“It wasn’t your fault,” said Ruby, and Pyrrha almost teared up at those words. Ruby trusted all of her friends so wholeheartedly it hurt.

Sun nodded, hugging his arms around his stomach. His friend Neptune came up beside him, putting a hand on his other shoulder.

“You can do this, buddy,” he said, quietly. There was a moment of silence as they all looked at each other and then, wordlessly, took off back into the fray.

Sun was a little unsteady, undoubtedly still reeling from Ruby’s forgiveness. Pyrrha knew the feeling intimately well.

She focussed on her own fight, but kept an eye on Sun, who definitely didn’t seem to be at the top of his game. 

Three beowolf converged on her, and she rocketed back to kick out at them, bringing Miló around in a semblance-assisted slash.

She struggled to take them all down, but took it one at a time, time seeming to slow as it always did when she was in the thick of a challenging battle.

By the time the third one fell, she knew something was wrong.

“Sun!”

She whipped her head around, looking for the source of the cry.

She spotted Sun far over to her left, lying battered on the ground beneath a lunging death stalker.

She tensed, about to run towards him, but it was already too late.

Before she could move, she spotted Blake, running in to shield him with her semblance. Just before she could split off, however, the grimm crashed into her shoulder in a single, aura-depleting blow. Blake cried out, still struggling to roll Sun out of the way. 

With the death stalker focussed on Blake, now, Sun was safe. Pyrrha tensed again, trying to decide whether to run in to save her or to let her handle herself. 

Those moments of indecision cost Blake her life.

The death stalker struck again, this time piercing directly through Blake’s abdomen. Her scream was lost in a horrible wet, hacking sound as she was brought through the air in an arc, and then roughly struck back into the earth.

She rolled, limply, farther into the fray. Pyrrha’s heart thundered, and she took off towards her, knowing, deep down, that there was absolutely nothing she could do to help her.

“Blake!”

“Blake!”

“NO!”

She, Weiss, and Ruby all cried out at the same time, apparently all having seen the blow at once, unable to do anything.

The endless drone of the outside world died down to white noise as they all reached Blake at relatively the same time, Ruby and Weiss collapsing beside her while Pyrrha stared on in mute horror.

“No! Nononono, Ruby, she’s not breathing!” Weiss choked out, holding her hand to Blake’s chest.

Ruby’s breathing was ragged as she stared into her friend’s face.

“Bl…Blake…”

Weiss erupted into tears, and Pyrrha felt herself sinking down beside them.

“Blake…”

“Blake!”

A short silence, fuzzy in the roar of the outside world. And then, an ear-splitting yell.

“BLAKE!!”

Ruby’s voice broke through the din of the battleground, piercing the night. Everything seemed to freeze at her words, and, just as before, a blinding white light erupted out of Ruby’s eyes.

Sound.

Silence.

Darkness.

Light.

And then, once again, the nothingness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here's the second chapter! And it's technically still Monday, so ha. Gotta get that practice in for when university starts up again and I am also handing things in half an hour before the deadline. Thanks for reading and reviewing and kudo-ing(?)


	3. Once more...

She trudged through the darkness in a hazy world of dreams. Her lungs burned, her legs would barely move, and she was tired, so, so, tired. But her dream self would not give up. She was walking toward… something. 

After what was probably seconds, but felt like days, she caught sight of a shape in the distance. This time, it was clearer. A woman, standing on the edge of her vision, turned away from her. 

Reaching forward, she tried to call out, but as soon as she opened her mouth, the darkness rushed in. It choked her, pressing on her lungs. There was a struggle, and then she woke up, thrashing.

Her legs twisted in her sheets, Pyrrha forced herself to stop moving and calm down. Her throat was burning, and she made herself lie there for a minute, evaluating her body. She kept her eyes squeezed shut, willing for the world to make sense when she opened her eyes.

“Hey, good morning sleepy head! Did you have a weird dream or what?”

And, once again, nothing made sense.

She opened her eyes blearily to see Nora, fully clothed and standing at the window. Pyrrha pulled the blanket to her chin against the autumn breeze.

It took her a minute to realize that Nora had asked her something. She was staring at her expectantly, mouth gradually falling into a frown.

“Um… no. I’m… I’m fine,” she managed to force out. “Is it… is the singles tournament today?”

Nora fake gasped.

“Don’t tell me you forgot! This is gonna be the most important fight of your entire life!”

Pyrrha let her head sink back into the pillow, staring at the ceiling. So it was true, then. This day was really happening once more. Blake was alive, and Ren was alive, and Pyrrha had another chance.

But was that what this was? Was this about chance? Maybe it was all just some cruel twist of fate, forcing her to try to right what never could be fixed.

Or worse, maybe she was really dead, and she was condemned for murdering Penny, doomed to live this day over and over until it broke her completely.

Nora had set off to wake up Jaune and Ren, and there was a general murmuring as Pyrrha’s team came to life around her. She forced herself to sit up, trying to appear normal.

Everyone slowly rolled out of bed, grabbing clothes and brushes and preparing for their morning routine. There was a sleepy silence in the room, like it had been on the first version of this day. Today, Pyrrha wasn’t causing some crazy disturbance. Not outwardly, at least.

On the inside, Pyrrha was getting desperate. Despair clouded her every thought, trying to figure out how and why this was happening to her. And even knowing that, how was she supposed to get out of it?

If the goal was to protect the school, she didn’t even know where to begin. The root of the problem had seemed to be her match against Penny, but even without Pyrrha there to fight her, Penny had been killed. There must be something else, then. Something she was missing, that was causing all of this to happen…

“Pyrrha? Hellooooo!”

Pyrrha started to attention at Nora’s hand, waving in front of her face.

“Oh, um, yes?” she said.

Nora huffed.

“I saaaaid it’s Jaune and Ren’s turn to get changed in here. We have to go to the bathroom. Come on!”

Nora grabbed her arm, and Pyrrha could barely get out a word of apology before she was down the hall and once again thrust into her morning routine. She got completely dressed and ready, then headed back to the room, her usual armor feeling tight and deadly on her skin. Another day of this nightmare.

“I hope Yang’s okay,” said Jaune, pulling out the desk chair and sitting on it backwards. “That was weird, yesterday.”

“I think I saw General Ironwood go into their room earlier,” said Nora, tapping her foot. “I hope it’s nothing too serious.”

“I don’t know what to think about yesterday’s events,” said Ren, from where he was tying his hair up on the other side of the room. “I’d like to believe that Yang was framed, somehow.”

“Yeah! Obviously!” said Nora. “What we saw wasn’t something Yang would do.”

“It was really… very out of character…” said Pyrrha, thoughtfully. Another mystery, also from the singles tournament. Could… could the two things be related, somehow?

And then, as always, Pyrrha found herself peering over her teammate’s shoulders as they awaited the news from Team RWBY. The door swung open, and she found herself immediately sitting down again, legs weakening.

“This is a mess.”

“She… doing okay?”

Pyrrha shut her eyes and frowned. It was like reading off a script, every word eerily familiar. The part she always dreaded was coming up next. And she knew what she had to say.

“She’s… doing the best she can.”

A lump rose in her throat at the sound of Blake’s voice. She fought down the images of last night, swearing that today would make all the difference.

“I heard Mercury and his team rushed back to Haven to be with his family, so until they land no one can really question him about what happened.”

…

“If there’s anything we can do, please don’t hesitate to ask.”

…

“Alright then, if that’s the case…”

…

“Pyrrha?”

Pyrrha inhaled deeply, then opened her eyes.

“Yes, Ruby?” She tried to keep the dread out of her voice.

“You be sure to win one for Beacon, okay?” asked Ruby, striking her usual pose.

“It’s what Yang would want,” agreed Weiss.

Pyrrha took a deep breath, forcing a smile.

“I’ll do my best.”

She gave the usual answer to the usual request, all of the fight draining out of her. She told herself again that today would be different. Somehow, it had to be.

Ruby lit up at Pyrrha’s agreement. 

“I’ll be sure to watch tonight in case you’re picked!”

Pyrrha nodded, then let her face settle back into a neutral frown. She listened idly to the rest of the conversation as Blake and Weiss made drink arrangements, and then Jaune shut the door. She tried to breathe steadily, in through her nose and out through her mouth. Blake was alive. Ren was alive.

She was alive. And she was going to make it count.

“You heard the lady!”

Pyrrha jolted at Nora’s sudden appearance, workout clothes on and face lit up at the thrill of a fight. She’d almost forgotten about this.

She watched as the scene unfolded for the third time, as if trapped behind glass in her own little world. This was her fourth attempt at this day, now, and none of it seemed to matter anymore. As much as she enjoyed her team’s antics, it was all a bit much right now. She just needed some time alone, to puzzle things through…

“Pyrrha?”

“Hm?”

She jolted to attention at Jaune’s voice, bringing her head up to face him. He had a hand on Ren’s shoulder and a hand on Nora’s shoulder, a look of concern spread across all of their faces.

“Don’t you think some fresh air would do us good?”

Distantly, Pyrrha longed to go with them, to sit outside again and rest her head on Jaune’s shoulder and put the world on pause for a minute. But she knew that this wasn’t the day for that. This was the day for answers. There would be endless days after today, different days, where she’d be able to think about that sort of thing again.

“Um…”

She scanned all of their faces, trying to think of something that would make them leave her on her own, just for a while.

“That sounds lovely, but I was actually thinking I would do a bit of solo training before the tournament. You three should go on. Perhaps I’ll meet up with you later.”

Ren and Nora exchanged a glance. Jaune let go of them, crossing his arms loosely.

“Really? We can help you train, if you want.”

Training with Jaune was, admittedly, one of her all-time favourite ways to practice. If not for her own sake, then just to watch Jaune grow as a person. But no, today was not the day for that, and she had to make sure he knew it.

“No. Honestly, I just need to train alone for a while,” she said. “Thank you though, Jaune.”

He bit his lip, eyes darting towards the open window.

“Well, if you’re sure. We’ll probably just hang around the fairgrounds for awhile. Come join us when you’re done, okay?”

“I’ll leave the rest of this smoothie here for you,” said Ren, setting his green drink down on Nora’s bedside table. “I really do think it will do wonders for your health.”

Nora made a face before heading towards the door.

“I’ll win you something cool, okay Pyrrha?”

Pyrrha smiled, giving Nora a single nod.

“That would be… nice. Thank you.”

They all wished her well before vanishing out of the door. She listened until she couldn’t hear their footsteps anymore, then took a minute to collect herself.

She fell backwards from her sitting position, spreading her arms out on Nora’s bed and staring at the ceiling. She sighed deeply, trying to decide where to start. Her mind kept jumping to all of the death she’d seen, the horrors of Cinder’s plot, and what was about to happen at the singles tournament in just a few short hours. 

So what was the first step? If withdrawing from the tournament didn’t work, perhaps she had to go back farther? Confront Cinder, or stop the match altogether, somehow?

She remembered Sun, reeling backwards against an unseen threat. She remembered her own reasons for overreacting to Penny’s attack, millions of swords pointed at her chest, twice in a row, horror jolting through her body…

And then Yang, punching Mercury’s leg for seemingly no reason.

No, there was absolutely something weird going on with this tournament. Maybe if she could just figure out what that was, everything would become clear.

In one motion, Pyrrha stood up from the bed, fixing her crown while walking towards the door. Maybe the first piece of this puzzle lay right across the hallway.

She secured her dorm door behind her, then took the few short steps towards Team RWBY’s. Just as she was raising her fist to knock, the door swung open. 

She took a step back in shock, arm falling back down to her side. 

Before her was the man who had been in Ozpin’s office on the day he’d told her about the Fall Maiden. Tall and dark, with the same ironic smile twisting across his lips. His eyes scanned her, and he gave her a knowing look. He recognized her too, then. 

The reminder about the Fall Maiden only built onto the anxiety of today. But Pyrrha was running on a strict time limit.

“Oh, good,” said Qrow. “Look who it is.”

He twisted around, yelling back into the room before she could so much as think of a response.

“Hey, kid! You’ve got a visitor.”

She heard no response. A bad sign. Usually Yang was the first member of Team RWBY to give an enthusiastic greeting.

Qrow stepped to the side, sweeping his hands beside himself in a half-mocking gesture of welcome. He didn’t say another word before departing. Pyrrha felt a dull anger, but was able to forget it pretty easily as she looked in on Yang.

Yang wasn’t even turned towards her, her gaze directed out of the window as she sat on one of the lower bunks in the room.

Pyrrha took a few steps forward, letting the door half-close behind her.

“H… hello, Yang,” she said, meekly.

Yang grunted a response, not turning around.

“I’m sorry to intrude,” said Pyrrha, still holding the door open a bit.

Yang didn’t respond to that at all. Pyrrha was of half a mind to just leave now, and spare Yang her feelings. She clearly didn’t want visitors right now. But, no. This wasn’t just about Yang or about herself anymore. She knew what the consequences would be if she didn’t have this conversation, right now.

Summoning all of her courage, Pyrrha closed the door and walked up to Yang, taking a seat on the bed right next to her.

Yang turned around, shock and hurt registering on her face. Pyrrha’s stomach twisted painfully.

It was so easy for Pyrrha to put aside her feelings in battle, to be in tune with her body as she focused on her tactics and struck down a foe. If only things like this could be as easy as a battle. Seeing this look on Yang’s face, and still pressing on through it, took more courage than fighting any grimm she had ever faced.

“Yang, I don’t believe you meant to hurt that boy,” she said quietly, doing her best to hold Yang’s gaze. 

Yang frowned, looking away from her. And, wait, were those tears? Pyrrha bit back panic, fighting to keep talking.

“I don’t believe you’d ever do something like that! It’s not like you at all. And I know you’re probably tired of talking about it…”

She took a deep breath.

“But I need to know. I need to know what you saw. It’s important.”

Yang chuckled, not all too nicely.

“Pyrrha, I know you mean well and all, but I’m kind of tired of talking about it. He attacked me first, but everyone else saw differently. That’s all I know.”

Pyrrha sat back a bit, turning this information over in her mind. She tried her best to remember everything she could about Yang’s fight which had, in all honesty, been four days ago.

All the screens had shown was Yang, celebrating her victory before suddenly turning around and punching Mercury in the leg. His aura was already down, and the leg broke instantly. Scandal ensued. It was a shock, and it was completely unlike her, and it was… it was wrong. Something was just so off about it.

If what Yang said was true, and Mercury had attacked first, then why had all of Remnant seen the opposite? She needed more information, which meant she had more stops to make.

“Thank you, Yang. If you need help with anything, just let me know, alright?”

Pyrrha stood up, staring at Yang for a few more seconds.

“Yeah, okay,” said Yang, finally.

Pyrrha turned and walked slowly from the room, looking back at Yang once before shutting the door. She wanted to say something more, something that could help her. She was really no good at this sort of thing. Jaune was the person that could help people through their troubles. Or even Nora, in her own weird way. Pyrrha preferred to be proactive in the face of adversity.

She desperately wanted to say something more reassuring to Yang. To tell her she was going to solve this, or that she knew how it felt. But, in this version of today, at least, that wasn’t true. Anything she could say would just make it worse. So she left without a word, soundlessly shutting the door behind her.

Next, Penny Polendina. Pyrrha had never spoken a word to the girl in her life, and Penny had never spoken to her, aside from the two times she’d greeted Pyrrha before her life was ended forever.

Penny wasn’t exactly human, she’d learned, but she undoubtedly had the intelligence and personality of any other student. She had to find her and talk to her, and quickly.

So where to begin? The Atlas dorms, to the East? If Penny was going to spend the day training, she’d probably be on the outskirts of campus, in the other direction. Or maybe even the fairgrounds, if she wanted to explore a bit before the tournament. There were just too many possibilities, and Pyrrha was running out of time. 

She decided to check in the dorms first, since they were the closest. She walked as fast as she could towards the lobby without breaking into a run, and, as a result, she nearly ran into Jaune once again.

“Woah! Hi, Pyrrha. Were you just headed out to train?”

He had cotton candy in his hand, and her heart ached at the familiar sight. Not now. Not today. As much as she longed for a bit of sympathy, she had no time.

“Um, yes,” she said, shifting slowly from foot to foot.

“I was hoping to catch you on your way out, actually.”

He held out the cotton candy.

“It’s, uh… it’s no green goop, but I think it might still do some good.”

She took it from him warily, her fingertips brushing his. 

“Um, right. Thank you.”

They were alone in the lobby, and he was staring straight at her, and he was going to launch into his usual speech, she just knew it. She didn’t know if she could take it.

“You were the first person to ever believe in me, you know that?” he asked, frowning slightly. “Even when I told my parents I was going to Beacon, they told me not to worry if I ended up having to move back home. How depressing is that?”

“They… they must have…”

Once again, Pyrrha couldn’t even get her full sentence out before Jaune zeroed in on her.

“I guess I’m just trying to say that you’ve always been there for me, even when I didn’t deserve it. And I can tell there’s something on your mind so, I don’t know, how can I help?”

He was so, so kind to her. He honestly just wanted to make things better, but there was nothing about her situation that he could even begin to understand. She didn’t even understand it herself, not really. Everything was a mess, and here was her straightforward partner, trying to make her feel better when she was a murderer and a coward and she couldn’t do anything to fix anything.

“Woah! Pyrrha!”

She hadn’t realized she was crying until Jaune reacted to it. He reached out to touch her arm, and she relished in the touch, just long enough to ground herself again, swallowing her tears until nothing was left but a burning in her nose and throat. 

“You can’t help me, Jaune. Even if I told you, you’d never believe me,” she whispered, staring at the cotton candy in her hand instead of looking at him in any way. “I don’t even know what’s going on right now. Everything has been so wrong, for a long time, but…”

She forced herself to look up at him, his face creased with concern. He brushed down to her elbow, letting his hand fall from her arm and back to his side. Pyrrha took a deep breath before continuing.

“But, as a huntress, it’s my duty to set things right. I don’t know how, but I’m going to do it. And then, maybe everything will be fine again. But I just need to do this.”

She softly handed the cotton candy back to him, then took off running before he could respond. She heard him calling after her vaguely in the distance, but then the door shut behind her and she was greeted by the autumn chill, cooling her skin and drying her tears.

*****

Penny wasn’t in the dorms. 

She also wasn’t in the training grounds, the fairgrounds, or any of the stores set up along the way from the fairgrounds to the school.

Pyrrha had almost given up hope, dashing from building to building, before she stopped in front of a CCT feed from the arena, and spotted a shock of orange hair in the crowd of some before-match interviews. She would recognize that hair anywhere. It, and the person who came with it, had been haunting her every thought for just about four days now.

Pyrrha caught a ship up to the arena, forty-five minutes before the match was scheduled to start. All of the singles nominees were supposed to meet up at fifteen minutes before, which didn’t leave her much time to talk to Penny alone. Hopefully this wouldn’t take too long.

Luckily she found Penny almost immediately after landing, standing off to the side of the docks with a severe-looking girl in blue. She was smiling brightly despite her teammate’s apparent sour mood, and swinging her arms cheerfully as she scanned the crowd. She reminded Pyrrha of Nora, in a way.

Pyrrha took a deep breath, then made her way over.

“Excuse me, are you Penny Polendina?” she asked, as confidently as possible.

Penny turned around, confused at first, but then her face lit up as she recognized who she was speaking to. It hurt Pyrrha’s heart. She had no right to have this effect on Penny, after she’d murdered her so cruelly.

“That I am!” Penny said, rocking onto her toes and back. “And you are Pyrrha Nikos, from Beacon Academy! It’s a pleasure to meet you, Pyrrha Nikos.”

Pyrrha forced a smile, and extended her hand.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, too.”

Penny shook her hand vigorously, with a grip of iron. It almost hurt. When she released her, Pyrrha spoke again, trying to ignore Penny’s teammate, who was staring daggers at her.

“So, are you excited for the tournament?”

She hated that she’d just asked that. Regardless, Penny’s face brightened at the idea of it.

“Oh, yes! It’s going to be sensational. I’ve been practicing for quite some time now. You’d better watch out.”

She said it all with a wide smile on her face, and Pyrrha felt a deep ache in her chest. Penny was absolutely lovely, kind and open even with someone she’d just met. With every word she said, Pyrrha’s guilt just grew. She forced a friendly laugh.

“I’ll certainly do that. You’re quite good with swords, from what I’ve seen.”

She fought back a shudder.

“Oh, yes,” said Penny pointing a thumb towards her backpack. “I’ve been training with these for as long as I can remember. I forged them myself.”

Pyrrha swallowed. This was it.

“Wow. That’s quite a lot of swords to forge all by yourself.”

Penny waved her hand at the flattery, still grinning.

“It’s only the twelve, and they don’t require too much maintenance.”

“Oh?”

Pyrrha’s heart thundered. Twelve swords. Only the twelve. A hallucination then, or…?

“I thought I saw more than twelve, in your doubles match,” Pyrrha said, hoping her panic wasn’t coming through in her voice.

Penny looked confused, her mouth falling into a line.

“No, it’s just twelve…”

Penny’s partner clicked her tongue impatiently, pointing to her watch.

“Penny, the meetup before your singles match begins in ten minutes. You should leave now in order to be punctual.”

Penny’s grin faltered a bit, but she agreed passively.

“Well, I’ll see you later, then, Pyrrha Nikos!” she said, turning around with a friendly wave.

“Yes, I’ll see you,” said Pyrrha, hollowly. 

She watched Penny go, thoughts racing.

Twelve swords.

Just the twelve.

Either she and Yang were both hallucinating, or someone, somehow, was tampering with the matches. But how could that be?

The crowd around her started filtering into the arena and, as if walking through a dream, she followed.

*****

Once again, she was faced with the points of a million swords. 

They filled the air, occupying every part of her vision, threatening her every instinct, bringing up memories of grimm and arrows and death. 

Her muscles were still humming from the recent fight, her semblance on edge and ready to be used. Every instinct screamed at her to do it. But no, not today. Today, she was not a murderer.

She tensed her core, then vaulted to the left, just as the swords descended. She knew she couldn’t dodge all of them, not when they were crashing to the ground all around her, but she had other plans.

In one giant, powerful jump, Pyrrha launched herself over to the edge of the stage, and then, faking a stumble, stepped off the edge.

It was a fairly long fall, but her aura protected her from the worst of the damage. She rolled a bit, limbs tucked in as she tasted dust. She used the momentum to pull herself into a sitting position, then threw up a hand in defeat.

“What’s this? It seems Ms. Pyrrha Nikos has been eliminated!”

Professor Port’s voice boomed over the speakers, his surprise mirrored in the roar of the audience. 

“Well then, the winner of this match is Penny Polendina, from Atlas!”

Pyrrha took a moment to collect herself, forced to hold back the pure elation that was growing in her chest. 

It was over, then. 

Penny had won, and she was alive, and everything was fine. There would be no more singles matches until tomorrow, so there would be no grimm attacks, and finally Pyrrha could face whatever tomorrow would bring during a brand new day.

Something still felt off, though. She knew this day too well by now to simply trust that everything would be fine without her carefully monitoring everything. 

As Penny celebrated her victory with the crowd, Pyrrha silently slipped back to the stands. Just as she was leaving, though, she felt something tap her on the shoulder, and turned around to see Jaune.

“Hey,” he said, scratching his neck nervously.

“Hello,” said Pyrrha, surprised but not unhappy to see him. 

“I… uh, I saw your fight,” he said, looking at her, now. 

Her chest warmed.

“Oh? Well, I did my best, but it looks like Penny was the stronger of us two.” 

She waved a hand in front of her face, forcing a smile.

“Pyrrha.”

Jaune frowned a little, and Pyrrha placed her hand on her chest, right where the ghost of the fatal arrow remained.

“I’ve been training with you long enough to know the difference between your real and fake fall,” he said, mouth forming a slight smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “Is… is everything okay?”

“You… do you think the audience could tell?” asked Pyrrha, heart thundering. She didn’t need more trouble for Beacon based in this tournament.

“No, it was pretty good,” said Jaune, breaking into a full smile now. “Nothing like when you let me win.”

“I don’t let you win,” said Pyrrha, pressing her lips together. At least, she hadn’t for a while. 

Jaune chuckled.

“Anyway. You’ve been acting a little weird lately. Not like yourself. It’s almost like you were… avoiding us, today,” he said. “Did I… do something wrong?” 

“No!” said Pyrrha, taking a step towards him. “No, never think that. I honestly just needed some time today. But…”

She took a breath, then let herself truly smile for the first time in days.

“But I really think things are better now. No more hiding. Let’s meet up with Ren and Nora and do something together.”

Jaune looked a little confused, and hesitated a bit before turning to lead the way out of the arena.

“Yeah, okay. Sounds good.”

Pyrrha went to follow him, taking a few deep breaths at last. Her head was already filled with thoughts of a nice night in with Ren and Nora, maybe playing cards or watching a movie before talking the hours away. She’d have to keep an eye on the tournament, and she still had the Fall Maiden to think about, but for now, Penny was alive and Pyrrha was not a murderer. She fell into step at Jaune’s side, but they could only take a few steps before, once again, the unexplainable happened.

From around the corner, a girl appeared. She was tall and red-haired, and, even from a distance, it was like Pyrrha was looking into a mirror.

The closer she got, the more the similarities increased until, running towards them, was an exact clone of Pyrrha herself.

She let out a gasp, and Jaune yelled something incoherent, before the other Pyrrha was upon them, shoving her way through.

Pyrrha turned as she passed and looked fully into her face, which was exactly like her own except for the eyes, which were a mismatched pink and brown colour. The girl blinked, looking straight at Pyrrha with a cruel smile, and her eyes became as green as Pyrrha’s own. And then the girl was gone, sprinting into the arena where Penny still stood onstage.

“No!” 

Before her brain could even fully register what was happening, Pyrrha started running towards the doors to the arena. But her doppelganger was just too fast, and all she could do was watch in horror, through her limited view of the stage, as a direct copy of herself ran up to Penny, took her from behind, and sliced her through with her own blade.

Pyrrha clapped her hands over her mouth, legs collapsing underneath her. 

How could this happen? Even with everything she thought she’d learned, this made absolutely no sense. An illusion that could walk and fight and kill? One that everyone could see?

Penny fell as if in slow motion, her petite body crumpling as the crowd went wild. And then, the CCT was taken over once more.

Pyrrha knew that the usual speech was happening. That the alarms were blaring and people were screaming and grimm were approaching. But she couldn’t hear any of it. All she could do was kneel there as the world came apart around her again.

So, then, it was impossible. No matter what she tried, Penny Polendina was doomed to die. 

Sometimes, destiny was cruel.

She felt a hand on her shoulder, and the world snapped back into focus around her. She heard the blaring sirens, mixed with thousands of horrified screams, and realized that there were people all around her, running, trying to escape. 

The world dulled again, and she was pulled towards something solid, her head resting there, someone else’s arms draped protectively around her head and shoulders. Jaune. 

She let herself sink into him, forehead pressed against his armor. 

After quite a long time, he let her go, grabbing her by the shoulders and speaking quickly, a faint pink in his cheeks.

“Uh, sorry. I couldn’t think of what else to do. They think you killed that… that girl. Nobody can see you, we have to go! Pyrrha, you have to hide!”

He was shaking her a little as he spoke, but she was still in shock, unable to fully register what was happening. The world was a dull blur, and his words came from far away. She closed her eyes and behind her eyelids she saw death. An arrow, a crumbling pillar, grimm, and a million swords. Death, death, more death.

She felt a pressure under her forearm, and was forced to stand. Her legs carried her as she walked quickly into the sidelines, away from the crowds and back into the stands. She observed her surroundings dimly, and they all seemed fuzzy and surreal, made of some cottony material. It surrounded her, pressing on her nose and mouth and ears. She heard Jaune’s speaking through layers and layers of the stuff.

“Pyrrha, come on! We have to move! We have to find Ren and Nora and…”

Jaune’s voice cut off with a gasp. 

“Ren! Nora!”

Ren and Nora?

“Get out of there, that thing's going to break through!”

The world came rushing back to her, a loud ringing filling her ears. Shaking, stomach churning, she looked out at the stage.

The fake Pyrrha stood confidently by Penny’s body, sword still clutched in her hand. Ren and Nora stood in front of her, lowered into defensive stances. And, facing them on their opposite was Ruby Rose, sword drawn, screaming.

A giant nevermore had descended on the stadium, its enormous beak and claws beating on the forcefield with gargantuan strength. Pyrrha wanted to fight. She wanted to run.

“Stay here, okay?” said Jaune, letting go of her arm. She watched in horror as he leapt over the side of the stands, sprinting towards the stage.

Jaune, the leader of the team, was playing the part so well as he tried desperately to keep all of them safe. He was trying to hold them together, and take command of the situation. She knew he wanted her to stay here. She also knew that there was going to be a giant nevermore on that stage soon, and she had to protect him. She had to protect them all. 

“Ruby, she didn’t do it on purpose! Pyrrha would never do that!”

Nora’s voice cut through the sirens, the feed from the stage still turned onto the speakers. She was pleading with Ruby, who was still wildly yelling.

“I know that! I know she wouldn’t! I just… I don’t… know… what to think…!”

Ruby was still holding out the sword, as if in defense. The other Pyrrha had hers at the ready as well, ready if a fight were to break out.

Pyrrha knew better than to think Ruby would fight them. Ruby meant no harm; her hand was shaky and her voice was strained with tears. Ren and Nora stood, ready to defend the fake Pyrrha, and Pyrrha herself knew she had to get down there and set the record straight. 

She swung her shaky legs over the edge, and fumbled the landing a little bit, tumbling to the ground. She tried to break out of it, and roll to her feet, but she was still weak from the fight with Penny, and she was starting to feel it in her legs. 

“That’s not Pyrrha!” 

Jaune’s voice took over, desperate and pleading. 

“Ruby, we all have to get out of here before that thing breaks in…”

With a terrible crackling sound, the force field gave way. Pyrrha felt it in her whole body as it touched down, blowing the people on the stage backwards and letting out a deafening cry.

Other huntresses and huntsmen touched down around her, making their way towards the stage. She thought of her team, in immediate danger up there, and the thought made her strong.

She forced herself to her feet. She was a huntress, and this was her job. She would defeat the grimm, and protect those she cared about. She was the only one with her weapon at the ready. The only one who could save them.

She dashed towards the stage, zeroing in on the nevermore. She watched it lunge, seeming to catch on something with its giant claws. When she managed to make her way up, a horribly familiar sight greeted her.

Once again, she had failed to save what mattered most.

Nora lay crumpled on the ground, an apparent claw mark raked through her chest. 

“No! No, no, no!”

Ren was begging with her, kneeling at her side with his head bent close to hers. Several other huntsmen and huntresses were taking on the nevermore, the lockers having appeared and pinned it just a little too late.

The world faded out again as Pyrrha fell to her knees.

Useless. 

It was all useless.

Nora. Happy, excitable, wonderful Nora, was dead on the ground. Just like Ren. Just like Blake. Just like herself. 

Pyrrha must have screamed, crumpling further with every one of Ren’s sobs. And then, like clockwork…

“Nora!”

Ruby’s screams. The sirens. The sobs. The yell of a nevermore. Weapons shooting and clashing. A distant ringing.

And then, finally, silence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Drama drama dramaaaa. Maybe someday I’ll write a fic that isn’t composed of pure angst. Welp.   
> I’m sorry this is late ;_; I tried real hard but I’ve been busy all week. The next chapter will be on time for sure. I'm also sorry if you notice some spelling errors or something. I didn't edit this one as thoroughly as usual, since it's late and all.  
> Lastly, thank you so so so much to everyone who has been commenting! I’ve stopped replying because I don’t trust myself not to spoil things, but I love reading all of your reviews and speculation and things. They really make this story worth writing. I hope I don’t disappoint in the future :)


	4. And Again

This time, Pyrrha’s limbs were lighter as she fought her way towards her goal. She couldn’t quite run, and the ground caught and slid under her feet, but she was going to get there. This time, she knew she’d make it.

She walked through the hazy dream world, until once again she spotted the woman in the distance, still turned away from her. She fought to keep a grip on the dream, struggling towards the woman. On her way there, she realized where she was.

Red leaves scattered around her, crunching under her feet and colouring the air. The sky was a bright blue, as it had been on the day she’d visited the place. The Forest of Forever Fall was as beautiful in her dreams as it was in her memory. 

A large leaf fell across her vision, obscuring the world around her. As soon as her eyes readjusted, she was standing close to the woman. The woman turned around.

Dream Pyrrha felt nothing as she looked into Amber’s face. In a way, she had expected this. 

She simply stood there, watching Amber carefully as the leaves around her fell faster and faster. Amber smiled. Her lips formed a word. 

Amber started to dissolve at that moment, and the forest faded to a dim dreamscape. Pyrrha was left to trudge through the muddy air, trying to reach Amber again. But she was gone completely now, lost except for the one word she’d managed to say before disappearing. 

It reverberated around Pyrrha, echoing quieter and quieter until it disappeared completely.

“Destiny.”

*****

Pyrrha woke up hazily, feeling as tired as if she’d had no sleep at all. Just as she’d expected, the familiar ceiling of the Team JNPR dorm greeted her. A breeze blew across her face. It was that day again.

She didn’t feel restless at all, now, just profoundly tired. She wished she could sleep forever, and never face this day again. At least, for now, everything was okay again. She felt oddly calm as she turned to face the window. It’s amazing what one can get used to.

Her feelings from yesterday seemed to have washed away, leaving nothing but a dull ache in her chest. Another day of this.

“Pyrrha! You’re awake!”

Nora stood at the window, hands outstretched. 

“Nora…”

Blankets trailing behind her, Pyrrha lurched out of bed and towards her teammate as if possessed. She took her in, smiling and breathing and full of excitement at the prospect of a new day. 

She reached a hand towards her, then pulled back. Nora was here, and she was real, and she wasn’t going to die ever again. Pyrrha swore it to herself.

“Um… Pyrrha? You’re kind of freaking me out,” said Nora, still with the quirk of a grin.

“I’m sorry,” said Pyrrha, taking a step backwards. “It was just… a weird dream, I suppose.”

“Oh my gosh, you too?” asked Nora, eyes widening. She launched into an incredibly detailed explanation of her dream, the same as it had been a few days ago during their pancake breakfast.

Ren and Jaune woke up to her word barrage, Ren slowly sitting up and Jaune throwing a pillow over his head. Pyrrha smiled at them all, so normal and peaceful and alive.

“Anyway, that was pretty crazy, I thought,” said Nora. Pyrrha could barely nod before Nora switched topics immediately without taking a break. “I… I hope Yang’s okay. I think I saw General Ironwood go in there, earlier. Now there’s something that seems like it should’ve been a weird dream.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” said Jaune, having finally given up on sleep. “That’s not something Yang would do.”

“It was definitely… o… odd,” said Ren, stifling a huge yawn. 

“There’s something else going on,” said Pyrrha, sure of it now. Something much larger was at play here.

Jaune nodded, and they all sat in silence for a moment. 

“Well, we might as well get ready while we wait for the verdict,” said Jaune, stretching his arms. 

They all agreed, and once again Pyrrha joined Nora in the bathroom for their usual morning routine. 

“Nora,” she began, trying to sound nonchalant as she brushed her hair. “What do you want to do today? If you could choose anything?”

Nora considered for a minute, pausing in swinging her feet as she sat on the bathroom counter.

“Um… the fairgrounds look fun! We should all go down there. We can win prizes! And stuff our faces with as much fair food as possible!”

Pyrrha laughed lightly, returning to her hair-brushing. 

“I think that sounds like a grand idea.”

As soon as they returned to the dorm, Pyrrha suggested that they leave for the fairgrounds. Ren was still making his bed, and he paused to give her a sideways look.

“We should wait to hear how Team RWBY is doing, no?”

“Oh, right,” said Pyrrha, shrinking. Even though she knew that everything would be relatively fine, this Yang situation was still a new wound for the rest of her team. She was ashamed to admit that it seemed like a small concern to her, now, after all that she’d seen. 

After her dream, everything was clear to her. Amber, the fall maiden. It was a truth she’d been avoiding since the day she’d learned of it, but now she couldn’t ignore it anymore. The answer was simple, much simpler than she’d care to admit. If today was her last day, she was going to spend it with the people she cared about most.

If Penny could not be saved, at least everyone else could.

As usual, Team RWBY emerged shortly after the four of them gathered at the doorway. She let the usual conversation wash over her, anxious to get outside and waste the day away. She agreed to do her best in the tournament, despite having no intentions of even seeing it. Not as herself, at least. 

As soon as Team RWBY left, Nora and Ren launched into their usual debacle. She watched happily, fighting back every negative thought, savoring the two of them, alive, alive, alive.

When Jaune proposed that they get some fresh air, she was the first one out the door.

*****

“What do you think, Pyrrha?” asked Nora, holding up a hideous T-shirt that read “PROUD VYTAL FESTIVAL MOM.”

Pyrrha giggled.

“I think it suits you.”

Jaune pulled the dad version down, waving it at Nora.

“We could match.”

The three of them burst into laughter.

Ren ignored them, browsing through the other shirts with one arm clutched around a comically large bucket of popcorn. 

“What about this, Ren?” asked Nora, grabbing his free arm. “It’s a dress or something.”

She waved the thing at him. It was a dress, by some stretch of the imagination. Mostly, it was just hideous.

“I like the Atlas motif,” he said, nodding once.

“Oh, ew, it is Atlas! I didn’t notice the symbol in all the… folds. Well, anyway, that’s out.”

Nora hooked the dress back onto the display. 

“Uh, guys, maybe we should go,” said Jaune, nervously eyeing the man running the clothing stall. He was staring daggers at all of them, arms crossed. Apparently their comments had been overheard.

The team left quietly, then started laughing as soon as they were out of earshot. Nora stole a handful of Ren’s popcorn, then spit kernels at all of them as she spoke.

“Okay, where to next? I think we should try some games!”

“That’s a wonderful idea,” said Pyrrha. She’d always been pretty good at that sort of thing.

“Ha. You’ll all be sorry soon,” said Jaune, crossing his arms. “Once I win everything and you’re all left in my dust.”

“Is that a challenge, Jaunny-boy?” asked Nora, jabbing her index finger towards him. 

“Maybe it is.”

“Okay, then, I guess this is a competition now!” said Nora, rubbing her hands together deviously. 

“I’ll just watch,” said Ren, selecting a kernel of popcorn and chewing slowly.

“What, no! Ren, be on my team! And Pyrrha can go with Jaune. This will be the very first and most exciting Team JNPR partner battle to SHAKE ALL OF HISTORY.”

Ren sighed. Pyrrha laughed.

“Well, I suppose if it will be shaking history,” said Pyrrha, glancing at Jaune. He nodded at her, smiling. She felt it in her chest, and quickly looked away.

*****

“Okay, so we just have to knock over those bottles with bean bags,” said Nora, pointing to some bottles stacked into a pyramid shape. “You get this one, Ren.”

She paid the vendor, then reached into the pocket in front of her, carefully selecting five bean bags, and handing them to a confused Ren. Pyrrha selected her own beanbags. 

The game was specifically designed for the Vtyal festival, the bottles filled with weights and placed way too far away from the beanbags to make this seem possible. They knew their audience, here.

Ren clutched a bean bag, focusing intently on the bottles. He was breathing slowly and carefully, winding up in preparation for the throw. Nora cheered him on.

Pyrrha grinned, then looked away from him and towards her own bottles in the distance. She pictured a scope over them, brain calculating the angle she needed to throw at. She stepped back, breathed out, and let her beanbag fly at the exact same time as Ren did.

There was a way-too-loud sound, and bottles clattered to the ground.

“We have a winner,” said the vendor, voice bored. “Which prize would you like?”

He gestured to a bin of stuffed animals next to Pyrrha. She swung her arms a little. Sure enough, she’d knocked down all six bottles on the first try. Ren had left one standing.

“We lost the match, but the game is still going!” said Nora, clapping Ren on the shoulder. “You can win this! Get me a prize! Make me proud!”

Ren sighed and took aim again. Pyrrha turned towards the prize bin.

“What about this guy?” asked Jaune, holding up a tiny stuffed corgi. He gave it a little shake for emphasis.

“He’s perfect,” said Pyrrha, grinning.

******

“Are you sure you want to do this one, Jaune?” asked Ren, eyeing the hammer game nervously. 

“Of course,” said Jaune, handing his modest prize collection to Pyrrha. “I’ve been training, you know.”

There was a short silence. 

“Pyrrha, tell them I’ve been training,” he whispered, nudging her.

“Oh, um, yes. He has been,” said Pyrrha. It was true he had gotten quite a bit stronger in the last while. Beating Nora at a test-your-strength hammer game, however…

Jaune strutted up to the vendor, paying and taking position. The test-your-strength board flashed a thousand tiny red lights at him. 

He breathed, planted his feet apart, and struck down with all of his might. Pyrrha admired his form, from a training standpoint, and, well, other standpoints too.

The weight rose halfway up the board, then fell back to the ground. Nora snorted.

Jaune walked back to them quickly, arms crossed.

“You know, most carnival games are rigged,” he said, taking back his prizes from Pyrrha. “I saw an article about it once. Anyway, that thing was way too hard. I bet no one’s won at it, at all. That’s why so many prizes are left.”

He turned to gesture toward the prizes, just in time to see Nora slam down with the hammer. The weight soared up into the bell, hitting it so hard Pyrrha thought it might break.

Nora triumphantly thrust a fist into the air, waving it at Ren. He waved back.

Jaune turned around, and Pyrrha gave him a half-reassuring smile.

“Okay, what’s the next game?”

*****

“It’s so easy though! All you have to do is throw a little ball into one of the fish bowls, and you win a FISH,” said Nora, bouncing up and down as she admired the game. The vendor smiled at her, and Ren turned her around by the shoulder before the vendor could pounce.

“Nora. You’re not going to win a fish,” he said. 

“But why not? I’d take such great care of him. We could all take care of him! Team RWBY has Zwei, and we’d have this guy!”

Pyrrha had had a fish when she was younger, and she didn’t think Nora understood just how different they were from dogs. Nora liked to pet and play with Zwei, and Pyrrha was slightly afraid that she’d kill a fish doing the same.

“Nora,” said Ren, sighing deeply. “I can tell you exactly how this will go. Those fish have been travelling for days. They are stressed and sick. You will win the fish, take it back to the dorm, it will die within a day and you will cry.”

Nora jutted out her chin.

“You’re just jealous of me and Drei!”

She’d already named it, apparently.

“Why don’t we go get some more popcorn?” asked Jaune.

*****

“I think this competition is over,” said Nora, rubbing her belly happily after demolishing an extra-large popcorn. 

“Oh? How so?” asked Pyrrha. She stirred her drink with her straw.

“We’ve done basically every game. Anyway, Ren and I won.”

Nora reached up to give Ren a high five, and he tried to shift all of her prizes to one arm, effectively dropping half of them on the ground in the effort to high five her back.

Pyrrha found herself laughing, genuinely laughing, for just about the hundredth time that day. She’d had a wonderful morning, which led to a wonderful afternoon, and now it was coming to an end. Her decision was creeping up on her, and she was starting to feel the familiar twist of anxiety in her stomach and chest once more. She set her drink aside on a nearby table, gaze falling down to her feet as she was absorbed into her own mind. 

The dream. The death. This beautiful day ending in heartbreak and despair. In just a few hours, Penny would be dead. She could do nothing about that. It was her duty as a huntress to protect people, and she had spent the whole morning playing games with her friends instead of trying to save an innocent life.

“Pyrrha?”

She felt a hand on her shoulder, warm and grounding. Jaune.

“Rennn… let’s go get some victory funnel cake!” said Nora, Pyrrha looked up to see Nora practically sprinting into the distance, Ren in tow. A trail of stuffed animals and knick-knacks followed them. 

Jaune put their prizes down on the table next to Pyrrha’s drink. 

“Here, let’s go somewhere quieter,” he offered, not moving.

“Yes… okay,” she said. She was admittedly starting to feel a bit dizzy.

Somehow they ended up around the building, sitting against the same wall they’d sat at twice before. It made her uneasy, and added more fuel to her worries. Her heart thundered.

“You were the first person to ever believe in me, you know that?” started Jaune. She took a deep breath.

“Even when I told my parents I was going to Beacon, they told me not to worry if I ended up having to move back home. How depressing is that?”

Pyrrha automatically began to reassure him again.

“They surely didn’t mean…”

Once again, she couldn’t get the whole sentence out before her every sense was directed towards Jaune’s hand on hers. Her heart beat in her throat, eyes widening, as he continued on so casually.

“I guess I’m just trying to say that you’ve always been there for me, even when I didn’t deserve it. And I can tell there’s something on your mind so, I don’t know…” 

He turned to face her, blue eyes against green.

“How can I help?”

He didn’t know. He couldn’t know. Nothing made sense except this, here, now. She leaned into him, feeling him stiffen and then relax underneath her.

“You’re already doing it.”

This time, she didn’t let her anxieties seize her. She held onto Jaune like a life boat, grounding herself in the here and now. Soon, everything would change.

“Nothing makes sense,” she whispered, eyes still closed.

“Huh?” Jaune’s voice cracked, adorably.

She didn’t lift her head, but continued to talk.

“Do you believe in destiny?”

“Um… I don’t know. I guess that depends on how you view it.”

She opened her eyes, settling her gaze on two autumn-browned leaves, skittering across the path.

“When I think of destiny, I don’t think of predetermined fate you can’t escape, but rather, some sort of final goal. Something you work towards your entire life.”

“Okay, yeah!” his voice reverberated through his body, and she felt it. “I can see that, sure.”

She paused to collect her thoughts. Focused. Here and now.

“I’ve always felt that I was destined to be a huntress. To protect the world. I’ve worked towards it my whole life, but now, I don’t know if that’s truly what was meant to happen.”

Jaune shifted.

“What do you mean?”

The leaves skittered away completely. She watched Jaune’s shoes, feet rocking back and forth.

“It’s becoming increasingly clear to me that destiny has other plans. I’ve seen things in the past few days that are nothing short of unbelievable. But, I think I’m ready now. To do what needs to be done.”

“Um… okay,” said Jaune.

Taking a deep breath, Pyrrha sat up. 

“I’ll meet you all in the fairgrounds in twenty minutes, alright?”

“Huh?” Jaune blinked, pushing himself to his feet after Pyrrha did. “Pyrrha, are you sure you’re okay?”

She wasn’t. She forced a smile.

“Of course. I’ll see you soon.”

*****

The lie had cost her every speck of good feelings she’d had. She fought back a lump in her throat as she made her way to Professor Ozpin’s office. Her friends. Her first, most important, most wonderful friends. They were everything to her, and she told herself that she was doing this to protect them. She didn’t want anyone else to die. So she fought off how much she was going to miss them, and distracted herself by calling the other most important people in her life.

“Hello? Pyrrha?”

She froze, legs locking into place at the familiar voice on the other end of the line.

“Hello mom.”

“Pyrrha! It is you. Wow, I’m so glad you called. Hold on just a minute, your father is here, too.”

There was a scrambling on the other end, and then her mother’s voice came back, echoing more than before.

“Okay, we’re both here now. I put you on speaker.”

“Hello Pyrrha! We’ve been watching your matches!”

Her father was as cheerful as always, as determined to see her do well. It had been too long since she’d last called them both. They had always been nothing but supportive, hanging her awards on the walls and pushing her to do her best and letting her go to Beacon, even though she knew it hurt them to see her go so far away.

A tear slipped down her cheek.

“I’ve been doing my best.”

Here was something they couldn’t protect her from. Although the child in her longed to run to them, to hug her mother or stand protected behind her father until everything was fixed, they couldn’t know about her current pain, let alone fix it.

“It shows, love! You and your team fight so well together. I’m so glad you all have each other,” her mother gushed.

“I couldn’t do it without them,” she said, hoping that her voice wasn’t trembling as more tears fell.

“Well of course you can,” said her father. “You’re in the singles tournament, right? You’re going to do great. You make us so proud.”

“Thank you, dad.”

“And you’re doing well? You’re still happy at Beacon?” asked her mother. 

“Of course,” she said, running her hand along her cheeks. The tears stung her skin.

“I can’t wait to hear all about it.”

Pyrrha knew that her parents could talk for a long time, and she could definitely talk to them forever. But this was too much right now. She’d just needed to hear their voices, one last time.

“I actually have to go train for the tournament, now,” she said. Another lie, biting at her chest. “I just thought I’d call quickly.”

“Oh, well you go train then,” said her mother. “We’ll talk again soon.”

“Yes,” said Pyrrha.

“I love you.”

“I love you, darling.”

“I love you both as well.”

*****

Maybe she’d still be herself, as the Fall Maiden. There was always the chance that the process would go smoothly, and Amber would be able to move on, and she’d continue working towards her goal as a huntress with powers unrivaled by all. She could save so many people.

“Are you ready?” 

Ozpin’s voice was muffled by the pod. She heard her own breath all around her. She nodded, still thinking of her team, her friends, her family. Everyone that she loved, and would die to protect. She told herself she was willing to die to protect them.

“I… I need to hear you say it.”

She squeezed her eyes shut.

“Yes.”

“Thank you, Ms. Nikos.”

There was the rumble of energy, a searing light, and then blinding, excruciating pain. 

She thought of death, as the transfer happened. It came to her in flashes, broken up by each wave of pain. A million swords stabbing through her. An arrow to the heart, the stomach, the neck.

For some reason, a vision of Ruby’s eyes came to her. Not as they usually were, but as she’d seen them, several times now. White and blinding. Ending everything. Beginning everything. Ruby had secrets of her own, it seemed. And today, there would be no need to reveal them.

Dimly, she became aware that she no longer felt the pain. She was kneeling on something solid, darkness pressing in around her.

She shakily brought herself to her feet, trying to remain on alert, even through the throbbing in her head. 

“Pyrrha Nikos.”

The voice surrounded her from all edges, deafeningly loud. 

She did not flinch.

“You have a choice, Pyrrha Nikos.”

Pyrrha didn’t know where to turn. She spoke into the darkness.

“What… do you mean?”

There was a blinding light, and Amber materialized in front of her, healthy and radiant. She glowed softly in the darkness.

“I know what’s happening to you. You are confused, but you have a choice.”

Pyrrha’s head throbbed worse than before. She brought her hand up to her crown, pushing it up away from her forehead.

“Pyrrha Nikos, I do not wish to fight you,” she said. “But, it would seem that destiny has other plans.”

Pyrrha blinked.

“What?”

Amber rotated her hands, and a sparkling energy materialized. 

“We are two souls, fighting for control of one body,” she said. “Rightfully, this body is yours. But still, we fight for it.”

Pyrrha squinted, the light from the energy burning her eyes in the darkness.

“…Fight?”

Amber nodded, and Pyrrha noticed she was crying.

“Please choose your weapon, Pyrrha Nikos.”

Pyrrha’s heart jolted.

“But… how?”

“There is a way,” said Amber. “You can do it.”

At that moment, Pyrrha felt a warmth surging through her, fighting underneath her skin and spurring her to action. Was this… could it be…

She dropped her hands to her side, and, even having barely thought of it, Miló and Akoúo̱ appeared with a smattering of golden light. 

Amber nodded.

“I am truly sorry,” she whispered. “Let’s begin.”

Before Pyrrha could respond, a blast of energy flew towards her. She rolled to the side, using her shield as a guide. 

She used the momentum to bring herself back to her feet, then zeroed in on Amber. 

Amber was hovering in the air, arms spread as magic swirled around them. Her eyes glowed with the effort of it. She let go another volley of attacks, and Pyrrha dodged seamlessly, using her shield to deflect stray bolts when necessary. 

She was in full battle mode now, her brain analyzing every movement, preparing her for the offensive.

She knew she stood no chance long-range, so with every dodge, Pyrrha zig zagged closer and closer towards her target. This made dodging harder, but Akoúo̱ held strong. 

She transitioned Miló into its xiphos form, launching herself towards Amber and bringing it up and around her neck. Her arms seared underneath Amber’s magic, but it didn’t hurt her as much as she expected it would. 

Perhaps it was because it was hers, too, now.

Amber fell from the sky, and Pyrrha twisted herself so that she would fall with as much force as possible. She prepared for the hit of the ground, but it never came. Instead, they just kept falling.

Amber struggled out of Pyrrha’s grip, twisting her foot into her vision. Pyrrha narrowly avoided the kick, then struck back with Miló once more. 

They continued to fall, and Pyrrha could no longer dodge Amber’s magic. She did her best to manoeuvre herself out of the way, but still took a few of the attacks head-on. It was no use. She couldn’t fight without solid ground beneath her.

As soon as she thought it, she came crashing down onto her shoulder. She felt the blow all through her body, but still she rolled, determined to continue to fight for her own body.

Amber was worse for the fall, but still pulled herself up a fraction of a second after Pyrrha.

She fired again. Pyrrha dodged again.

This was going nowhere, she realized, and then she knew what had to happen. Her new powers surged inside her, fighting to break free, and she let them.

Her weapons fell aside as her magic collided with Amber’s. It was the strangest thing she had ever felt, the energy surging from her and becoming a tangible thing. It felt exactly right, like it was meant to be hers all along. 

Amber drew back, trying different attacks in order to get through Pyrrha’s magic and towards her. But Pyrrha was too strong. While Amber had been sleeping for years, suspended in between life and death, Pyrrha had been training, and learning.

She struck the final blow with Miló, having hooked it around towards Amber with her semblance. Her semblance was magnified now, drawing on her newfound powers. 

Amber sunk to the ground, and the world went black once more.

*****

Somehow, Pyrrha had ended up outside, atop a building, watching as grimm ravaged the landscape. She tensed, ready to go down and help, but her muscles froze last-minute.

‘Look to your left.’

Amber’s voice reverberated inside her. She was still in there, still with semi-control of Pyrrha’s body. Pyrrha gasped, her head turning without her telling it to. 

What she saw made her freeze, bringing her hands up to her invisible arrow wound.

Cinder Fall stood on a nearby rooftop, eyes locked on her own. Cinder looked a little concerned, mouth a line, hands curled into fists.

‘Let me.’

Pyrrha was ready to fight her, defeat her with everything that she was. Cinder had done this. Cinder had hurt all of these people.

‘Let me fight her.’

Pyrrha prepared to walk forward, anger seething through her. Her feet stopped, and no matter how hard she strained, she couldn’t continue.

“Please, Amber,” she muttered, arms shaking. “She hurt my friends. She… she killed me.”

‘She killed me more times than she killed you.’

Pyrrha’s mouth fell open, and she felt the world tilt around her as she was sucked into the blackness once more. Amber had caught her completely off guard, and had apparently learned how to take control.

So that’s how it was, then. Amber remembered death. Multiple deaths. Somehow, Amber was reliving this day as well, feeling the pain of Cinder’s arrow with each incarnation.

She deserved this fight, Pyrrha knew.

After what felt like hours, Pyrrha saw a light in the distance. She walked towards it, legs tired as if she’d been walking for days. 

When she gained control once more, the body of Cinder Fall lay before her.

She didn’t know what to feel. Happiness? Victory? Anger?

She settled on nothing. She felt nothing.

She turned on her heel and took off across the rooftops. This was only one enemy down. She still had thousands of grimm to worry about. 

She floated to the ground, finding that her new abilities were immediately a part of her, prickling under her skin and obeying her every whim. She didn’t need to learn anything.

Dashing through the crowds, she blasted grimm back at every opportunity, scanning the battlefield desperately for her friends. 

She rounded the corner of the school building, walls crumbling and fires burning. An Atlesian knight turned to attack her, and she blasted it away.

She came to an especially large gap in the wall, and stopped dead as she saw Blake, squaring off against a man with bright red hair and a white fang mask. Their blades were locked, and the look on her face carried so much hatred, Pyrrha felt it inside her.

Pyrrha was briefly mesmerized by the fight, but then jolted back to action as Blake lost the upper hand. The man had her on the ground, sword raised. He started to say something, but Pyrrha dashed forward, blasting him away. 

“Blake, are you alright?” she asked, rushing towards her friend. 

Blake panted, tears gathering at the corners of her eyes. 

“Pyrrha? I thought…”

The man was up again, dashing towards Pyrrha with his hand on his sheathed sword. She dodged to the side, and he rounded on her, furious.

She raised her hand, ready to knock him back once more, but, to her surprise, he smiled at her. She took a step back, unsure of what to expect, but then she heard it.

Yang.

A battle cry erupted around her, Blake choking out a soft “no”, as Yang burst into the room, jumping at the man in one powerful movement.

Without even turning to look at her, the man drew his sword, stabbing it upwards and directly into Yang’s torso.

Yang continued to fly, knocked off course now. The man sheathed his sword in one smooth movement, then ran out of the door and away. 

Sound stopped as Pyrrha watched Yang fall. 

As if in slow motion, she rolled across the floor, then came to rest at a pile of rubble. She trembled violently, and Blake pulled herself up, crawling towards her, mouth open in a guttural scream.

Pyrrha fell to her knees, vision blacking in and out. 

No.

How could this happen?

She had done everything right. She was the Fall Maiden. Cinder was dead. And, yet, somehow, Yang lay dying, the life leaving her as Blake clutched her and sobbed, and Pyrrha watched, completely dumbfounded. 

She didn’t hear the explosions around her.

She didn’t hear as Ruby came in behind her, cloak torn and face grubby.

She didn’t hear her scream, shaking violently as she looked upon her sister’s still form. 

All she heard was Amber, voice reverberating through her head again.

“Destiny”.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just can't help myself with the Team JNPR fluff. My poor sad children.   
> This chapter is dedicated to the loving memory of that one fish my brother won at a fair that was dead the next morning. Goodnight sweet prince, let flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.


	5. Another Time

This time, when Pyrrha reached the end of the path, Amber wasn’t there. The Forest of Forever Fall shifted around her as she turned back. She trudged through enormous piles of leaves, sinking deeper and deeper into them as she moved. She was up to her waist before she stopped, forest hazy around her. The sky was a dark, depressing gray, and the trees bent towards her ominously.

Suddenly the leaves converged on her, drowning her, and no matter how hard she kicked and twisted and fought them off, they just kept piling up. They were rough and wet against her skin, blocking her vision, stifling her senses, and, when she tried to cry out, they choked her from the inside.

And then, just as quickly as it had begun, it was over, and she was standing once more in front of Amber. The woman frowned at her, sweeping her fingertips through more piles of leaves.

“Pyrrha Nikos.”

It wasn’t a question.

In the way of dreams, Pyrrha spoke her thoughts straight away with no buildup.

“I don’t understand. I did what I had to do. I became the Fall Maiden. I thought everything was solved, but, still, it wasn’t the answer.”

Amber nodded once, staring directly into her eyes. Pyrrha felt anger building inside her, erratic and dreamy.

“You have a choice,” said Amber, hands still now.

“A choice in what?” Pyrrha lurched forward. 

“A choice in not killing people? A choice in not watching my friends die? A choice in moving on with my life? I have made so many choices, and none of them have worked! I couldn’t… I can’t save everyone…”

The forest pressed down on her.

“What do I do? Just tell me what I have to do!”

But Amber was gone.

*****

Pyrrha was jolted awake to the sound of her own crying. She immediately brought her blankets up to her mouth, trying to stifle it, but it was too late. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to stop the tears.

“Woah, Pyrrha! Are you okay?”

She heard Nora’s sure footfalls making their way across the floor.

“Pyrrha! Stop being sad!”

Nora was right up close to her now, but Pyrrha couldn’t bring herself to face her. Nora was alive, and Yang was alive, and everything was reset. But this room was still full of ghosts. 

Pyrrha swallowed her tears, and fought through the heaving in her chest, trying to calm herself enough to make Nora leave her be. 

“Hey! Pyrrha…”

She felt Nora’s hand on her shoulder, and opened her eyes. She tried to keep her voice even through chattering teeth.

“I’m sorry, Nora. It was just a nightmare.”

A nightmare that had lasted five days. A nightmare that was impossibly, undeniably, real.

“It must have been pretty bad, huh?” said Nora, giving Pyrrha’s shoulder a quick pat. 

Pyrrha nodded, still trembling underneath the covers.

“Is everything okay?”

In the bed beside her, Jaune was sitting upright, eyes still bleary with sleep and hair a mess. 

“Everything is fine,” she said, forcing herself to uncurl, and sit up straight, and take off the covers, and stand up. She underwent each motion mechanically, as if from another person’s point of view.

Ren was awake as well, legs hanging off the bed, a look of confusion on his face.

“Can I get you some water?” he asked, voice crackly with sleep.

“Um, no thank you. I’ll go do that. I’m just… I’m going to go get ready,” Pyrrha stuttered. 

She threw all of her things over one arm, then walked quickly out of the room, shutting the door on the concerned faces of her team. She practically sprinted to the bathroom, not wanting to face anyone else. She could already feel more tears forming. 

Once she arrived in the bathroom, she locked herself in a stall, assessing her body as she’d learned to do many times after training. She was still shaking, maybe due to the fact that her breathing was shallow and labored. She forced herself to slow down, bowing her head and pinching her nose. Eventually, she calmed, head buzzing with the effort. 

She slowly got ready, making sure she was absolutely alone. She didn’t want to face her team, or team RWBY, or any of the other people that she’d seen a million times on this very morning. She knew their words by heart, their intonations, their body language, and seeing it again would quite possibly break her. 

She just wanted this nightmare to be over.

Fully dressed now, she left her things in a pile on the bathroom counter. Nora would probably pick them up. Goodness knows Pyrrha had done the same for her a thousand times.

Right now, her body was aching for a solo jog. In all of the excitement of the past few days, she’d denied herself the simple pleasure of training and exercise. She needed to feel in tune with herself again, and just let go of her reality for a while. 

Pyrrha slipped out of the dorms without meeting anyone, then took off down the pathway, breath fogging in the early morning air. She paced herself, taking note of her footfalls, her form, her breathing. She was in her element, entirely her own, and the outside world was on hold until she chose to examine it.

She stifled her thoughts whenever they began to run wild, focusing on the more tangible things. The sunrise. The chilly air. Her hair brushing against her neck. The burn in her lungs. 

She didn’t know how long she’d been running for, but she had known all along where she was going to end up.

The scenery blended seamlessly from Beacon’s fall foliage into the brilliantly red landscape of the Forest of Forever Fall. She struck a path through the leaves, and paused only when her body couldn’t take it anymore.

She slowed to a walk, sweat pooling inside her elbows and down her back and beneath her crown. She panted slightly, the cool air biting at her lungs. She chose a tree and sat, leaning against the trunk, arms wrapped around her legs. She closed her eyes and rested her forehead on her knees, sipping water in between breaths.

As soon as she stopped moving, the static of her thoughts came back at full force. Her situation hit her hard, demanding to be understood. But she just couldn’t understand. Only a few weeks ago, she hadn’t believed in magic at all. Now, it was the one driving force in her entire life, derailing everything that she’d worked for.

From what she could tell, every day started with her in her dorm, Team RWBY being questioned across the way about Yang’s actions in the tournament. From there, just about anything could happen, up until the tournament, where, by some cruel trick, Penny Polendina would be killed. Then, the grimm. Cinder Fall orchestrating some big attack. Screaming and running, the Atlesian forces turned against those trying to keep things together. 

In the end, someone Pyrrha cared about would end up dead and, somehow, Ruby was always there to witness it. Her eyes… her eyes would burst into brilliant white light, and then the day would begin again. 

If Ruby was the reason for the loop, what did this have to do with Pyrrha? Why was it she who was living this day over and over, and not Ruby? Or anyone else? Pyrrha had been the first to die, but that shouldn’t matter, should it?

She heard a branch crack beside her and, instincts snapping to attention, jumped to her feet. She pivoted, battle stance at the ready, knowing that grimm populated this forest. But what she saw wasn’t a grimm at all. 

“Woah, um, hi,” said Jaune, bringing up his hands in a half-show of surrender. 

Pyrrha’s arms fell immediately to her sides, and her legs weakened. Here he was, the first and last person she wanted to see right now.

“Uh, okay, so Nora said she found your stuff in the bathroom, so we all figured you must have run away somewhere. Nora went to search the dorms, I went outside, and there were some people who saw you jogging. I just, kind of, asked a lot of people if they’d seen you. Ren stayed behind to check on Team RWBY and, oh, hey…”

Ren’s scroll lit up, and he poked at the screen.

“Apparently Yang’s doing okay. Well, that’s good. Anyway…”

He was talking way too much, trying to fill the silence as tears welled in her eyes. She had clearly taken him off guard today, without so much as a warning before her despair spiked. 

He stood in front of her, eyes pleading, shoulders slumped, mouth curled into a frown, and she felt a huge rush of sadness and affection, right down to her toes. 

Without even thinking about it, she was kissing him.

It was nothing like their last kiss, which had been all desperation and nerves and heat of the moment. This was slower, more melancholy, and she loved it every bit as much. Her hands on his shoulder blades, feeling his pulse and his breath against her mouth, the warmth, grounding her in this moment, heart thundering and stomach floating and lips on his.

Jaune stiffened at first, confused as she drew herself closer to him. But then, he was kissing her back, carefully, looping his arms around her waist and pressing her closer. 

All too soon, she forced herself to break apart from him, drawing back until she hit the tree. 

And then she was crying again, bringing the back of her wrist up to her mouth.

“W… woah, Pyrrha.”

Jaune’s face was pink, mouth slack and eyes wide. He brought a hand up to touch her shoulder, but she drew back.

“It doesn’t matter,” she whispered, tears drying on her cheeks in the autumn breeze. “None of it matters.”

“W… what do you…”

“None of it matters, Jaune!” she cried, burying her face in her hands. “Nothing I do matters! Tomorrow I’ll wake up in the dorm and Nora will be by the window and Yang will be doing ‘the best she can’ and you won’t remember anything! Nothing… at… all…”

She stifled her sobs, deeply ashamed of how badly she was losing her composure.

“O… of course I’ll remember,” said Jaune, taking a step closer to her. “What do you mean? What’s going on?”

Pyrrha’s legs gave out, and she sank to the ground, her back to the tree like before. She curled up, willing herself to calm down, not wanting him to see her so weak and vulnerable.

After a few seconds, she felt him beside her, sitting or crouching, shoulder lightly pressing into her own. 

They stayed like that for a while, until Pyrrha managed to calm down, and then longer, until she dared to show herself again. She brought her head up, resting her chin on her folded arms, and turned to see Jaune, looking at her with his brow furrowed in concern. 

He didn’t say anything, and she didn’t either. They just looked at each other, leaves falling around them and breeze ruffling his hair and the sweet smell of sap permeating the air.

She looked away, a profound tiredness settling in.

“So… uh…” Jaune took a breath. “We just kissed.” 

“We did,” said Pyrrha, focusing on a particularly red leaf to her left.

Jaune shifted positions, sticking out his leg.

“That’s cool.”

Pyrrha laughed through her nose, then coughed a little at the mixing of happiness with the lump in her throat.

It wasn’t exactly the confession she’d dreamed of, but at least he wasn’t pushing her away. He blushed deeply and turned his head. Pyrrha couldn't help but smile.

She rested her head on his shoulder and shut her eyes, the familiar feel of him steadying her. She took in the rise and fall of his breaths, his faint heartbeat, the warmth of him. She felt the buzz of his voice as he spoke.

“So, I’m guessing you’re not up for the tournament?”

She frowned, shaking her head on his shoulder.

“None of it matters,” she whispered again.

“Why do you keep saying that?” he asked, voice edged with concern.

“It doesn’t. Soon, grimm are going to attack the school. Someone we know will die. And then, you won’t remember any of this.”

She squeezed her eyes shut tighter. 

“I… honestly I don’t think I could forget this,” he said, half-laughing.

She sighed.

“It’s not… you can’t help it.”

Jaune shifted underneath her.

“Pyrrha, you’re not making any sense.”

“No, I suppose I’m not.”

More silence. More grounding. The breathing. The warmth. The wind.

“You were the first person to ever believe in me, you know that?” he said. 

She prepared her response to the rest of his statement, opening her eyes, but he left it at that. His foot shifted.

“You’ve…. You’ve always been there for me, even when I didn’t deserve it. So I want to be there for you now. To, help you… I guess.”

She stayed quiet, unable to respond as usual. A few more beats, and then…

“Jaune?”

“Hm?”

“Do you believe in destiny?”

She watched his foot twitch uncomfortably.

“Um… I don’t know. I guess that depends on how you view it.”

She took a deep breath, shifting to press her forehead into his shoulder. She had to say it again, and face it again.

“I’ve always thought of destiny as a sort of final goal. Not some sort of predetermined fate that you can’t escape.”

“Okay, yeah! I can see that, sure.”

“For my entire life I’ve been working to be a huntress. I wanted to protect the world, and to help people. The more I train, the more I learn, the more I know that this is what I was meant to do. But now, it’s seeming as though everything I’ve been working towards has been pointless.”

“That’s not true!” Jaune said, turning his head to face hers. His breath tickled hr ear as he spoke.

“No matter what happens, the Pyrrha Nikos I know would never back down from a challenge. You’re an amazing huntress, Pyrrha, and you’ve helped me a lot. You’ve helped lots of people. You just… you need to accept help for yourself, sometimes.”

She felt tears gathering in her eyes, again, and fought them back.

“You are helping,” she said, softly. “This is… I’m just…”

The unfinished sentence hung in the air, slowly fading until it was clear there was no conclusion. She turned her head back into a more comfortable position, eyes closed, weight leaning into Jaune. Her hyper-awareness at his touch gradually faded, until she felt nothing but comfort and safety, choosing to ignore everything that she knew was happening at Beacon. 

The breeze tousled her hair, carrying the sweet smells of the forest past her. The leaves around her cushioned her, the tree behind her supported her. She allowed herself to be carried away by the sensations, darkness and the rustling of leaves and Jaune’s even breathing by her ear. 

She spent the next few hours between waking and dreaming, curled into Jaune, sometimes shifting her stiff body, sometimes lying in the same position until she lost sensation. Jaune offered her food at some point, and she ate it without tasting it. They exchanged a few words, but mostly she slept. Sometimes she saw Amber, but never spoke to her. When she opened her eyes, Amber was gone, and she was sitting in the forest. When she closed her eyes, she was walking through the forest, searching. 

And then, an alarm blaring in the distance.

“Pyrrha?”

She woke to Jaune’s concerned voice, his head above her, pointed towards the noise. She was lying in his lap, curled up and stiff. 

“Hmm?”

“What’s that sound?”

She woke fully all at once, jolting upwards. She leapt to her feet, every sense on the alert. Her stomach sank. Here it was again, just as she’d known it would be. 

“We have to call our weapons,” she said, frantically pulling out her scroll.

“What… what do you mean? What’s happening?” 

Jaune stood up beside her, rather less gracefully than they’d been practicing. He pulled out his scroll more slowly, and a bit too late.

A beowolf crashed through the underbrush, knocking him to the side. Pyrrha shouted out and dashed towards it, her locker arriving just in time, planting itself in the ground a few feet away.

She used her semblance to call her weapons out, and struck Miló forward with all of her strength, cutting the beowolf cleanly in half. 

As the beast dissolved into dust, she saw Jaune, a look of horror on his face as he lay sprawled on his back. She helped him up, and he stood frozen, eyes wide.

“It’s… it’s… you said this would…”

She couldn’t take this right now. She wrenched his scroll from his hand and called his weapons to him, just as two more grimm erupted from the foliage.

Jaune managed to dodge them this time, and he scrambled towards his locker as it appeared. Pyrrha transformed Miló into its gun form, firing at the grimm as they chased after him. He grabbed his weapon and rounded on them, stabbing erratically until they dissolved into dust.

She sprinted towards Jaune, and more grimm appeared, completely ignoring them now, thundering towards the school.

“What is this?” Jaune cried, wheeling left and right as the grimm cut a clear path around them.

“There’s something at the school that they want more than us,” said Pyrrha, lowering herself into a careful fighting stance.

Jaune got into position as well, face determined. 

“We have to stop as many as we can,” he said. “Before they get there.”

He was taking control of the situation, and she appreciated it enormously. He was a wonderful leader now, full of confidence when it mattered the most. 

They stood back to back, lashing out at as many grimm as they could manage, drawing a few of them towards them. They fought with practiced motions, Pyrrha taking on as many as she could while still keeping an eye on Jaune. He managed to hold his own for the most part, but she still had to fire at a few of his grimm sometimes, or knock him out of the way with her semblance. 

After a few minutes of solid fighting, the grimm were starting to notice them a lot more.

“Hahaha… okay… hoooo… hey there…”

Jaune was starting to get overwhelmed by their sheer numbers, and, admittedly, she was tiring as well.

“We have to run,” she said, tugging on his arm. He nodded, and they took off, stumbling through the forest with hundreds of grimm in hot pursuit.

They vaulted over fallen branches, sidestepped trees, and kicked up a shower of leaves wherever they ran. They managed to match each other pretty well pace-for-pace, Pyrrha stopping occasionally to clear some grimm out of the way. 

With every step she took, Pyrrha felt the spark of determination growing in her chest.

This is what it was all about. Fighting monsters, protecting those she loved, and rushing to save as many people as she could. This is what she’d been working towards, and, somehow, she was going to make it count. She’d spent the day moping around instead of fighting for tomorrow, and while that was fine at the time, she had to get back into action immediately. This, if nothing else, was her destiny. Jaune was right; it wasn’t in her to give up.

When the two finally exploded out of the forest and onto Beacon’s campus, Pyrrha saw that the Atlesian Knights had already turned. She spotted a group of people she knew attempting to fight a gigantic paladin. Velvet of Team CFVY was knocked aside, and she watched, mesmerized, as Weiss rushed in, a giant sword made of light erupting from a portal beside her. She’d never seen anything like it. 

Snapping herself out of it, Pyrrha tugged on Jaune’s arm, pointing him towards the fight. They nodded to one another, then took off just as the paladin fell to pieces. 

More paladins joined the fight, and Pyrrha rushed forward, ready to jump into action, before she spotted Ren and Nora, and stopped in her tracks. 

Her two friends lay huddled on the ground, holding wounds and lying still. Heart thundering, she rushed towards them, Jaune right beside her.

“Hey, are you guys okay?” asked Jaune, kneeling down beside them.

“Jaune! Pyrrha!” said Nora, attempting to sit up with a wince. “I’m so glad you’re okay. These things are crazy, and… ow ow ow….”

She held her side, crumpling back down. 

“Please be careful,” said Ren, addressing all three of them. “It’s… really bad out there…”

Pyrrha started as a light flashed in the corner of her vision. She spun around to see a column of fire ascending up the tower, and her stomach dropped as she realized it was Cinder. Of course, Cinder received the Fall Maiden powers today with very little resistance. She would destroy the tower, and kill them all, and nothing could stop her…

The fighting seemed to pause as the grimm dragon that had haunted Pyrrha since day one flew toward the tower, letting out a terrible shriek. With an impact unlike anything she’d ever seen, the tower was destroyed, only a small portion of it left standing. This was no doubt where Cinder was.

“What is that?” yelled Sun, blasting back a few Atlesian Knights. There seemed to be a lull in the fighting, now. 

“I don’t know, but it’s not good,” said Ruby, rushing up beside Weiss. “Where have you guys been? Where’s Yang?”

“Ruby!” Weiss rushed forward, giving her a quick hug, then holding her at arms length. 

“It’s not safe here anymore. We all have to get out of here,” announced Sun, taking control. “We can still make it to the docks.”

Jaune stood, nodding. 

Pyrrha was completely torn. On one hand, maybe the key was in running away, in staying safe with her friends. On the other hand, she felt so deeply responsible for how the events of today had unfolded. She stared up at the tower, frozen, as Jaune and Yatsuhashi of Team CFVY tried to move Ren and Nora, already convinced.

She took a step forward, drawn towards Cinder. Today had been a disaster. She’d spent the whole day moping, and now she had to fix things. 

If the day truly repeated due to Ruby, all she had to do was keep Ruby away, and defeat Cinder without letting anyone die. 

“Pyrrha, no, you can’t go up there!”

Jane seemed to have read her mind.

“She’s way too powerful, you saw her take out that tower!”

She bit her lip, still turned towards Cinder. Meanwhile, Ruby and Weiss were in the middle of their own dilemma. 

“We can’t go yet! We still haven’t found Blake and Yang,” said Ruby, taking a few steps backward. 

“We have to keep our team together,” said Weiss, desperately. 

Pyrrha made up her mind.

“I’ll go with you,” she said, stepping forward. “We’ll find them.”

She had to do something, and if it brought her closer to Cinder, so be it. She looked back at Jaune, eyes darting from Pyrrha to Ruby and Weiss. He couldn’t argue with that, and she knew it. He had Nora’s arm draped over his shoulders, and was hunched over trying to support her. Nora’s eyes were squeezed shut in pain.

“Let me come with you,” said Jaune, shifting Nora a little. She winced.

“No. Get away from here with Nora and Ren,” said Pyrrha, firmly. She had to protect him. She always had to protect him.

She watched hurt flash across his face. The implication that he would only get in the way hung between them, and, although she desperately wanted to reassure him, they were running out of time. 

“I’ll come back,” she promised.

She turned on her heel, and Ruby and Weiss frowned, but said nothing. The three took off across the schoolyard, looking for any hint of Blake and Yang.

They ran for a while before encountering some more Atlesian Knights, and Ruby managed to make quick work of them before she spotted something in the distance.

“Zwei!” she shouted, taking off towards the black dot by the building. 

Sure enough, it turned and started to run towards her, barks piercing the silence of the abandoned school.

“But if Zwei’s here, that means…”

Weiss stopped running as the dog barreled into her, then shook itself, spun around, and barked over and over again.

“He’s going to take us to Yang!” said Ruby, complete certainty in her voice.

“He is?” asked Pyrrha, somewhat in doubt of the tiny dog currently running circles around all of their feet.

Ruby nodded. 

“Okay, Zwei, go find her!”

The dog took off like a shot, and the three followed, Pyrrha’s boots clicking against cobblestone as they approached the school.

Zwei turned abruptly and darted through a hole in the wall. Pyrrha recognized it from the previous day, her heart sinking. Was it already too late?

Ruby and Weiss ran through the hole first. Ruby gasped, pressing her hands over her mouth, and Weiss cried out. Terrified of what she was about to see, Pyrrha stepped up beside them.

Yang and Blake lay in a heap on the ground, Blake clutching her side and panting, Yang beside her, unresponsive.

Her arm was gone.

“She’s still alive,” panted Blake, getting right to the point. “I tried to run away, but… that dragon… it’s been circling…”

Pyrrha snapped to attention as, sure enough, a shock of air ripped through the room. There was a horrible, deafening cry. 

An eye appeared at the hole in the wall, blocking their escape. The thing shifted, showing enormous teeth. Ruby yelled.

Pyrrha jolted forward, yanking Blake and Yang out of the way just in time as the wall collapsed. The thing had spotted them. Now it wanted blood.

Ruby unsheathed her scythe and it popped into shape. Weiss pointed her rapier forward, and the two struck out, slashing at the dragon’s head, which was now swiping everywhere across the room. The thing couldn’t fit completely inside, and that seemed to give them the advantage. 

It roared again, blasting them all back. More of the room collapsed, and Pyrrha called Miló and Akoúo̱ forward with her semblance. 

She joined Ruby and Weiss at the front line, firing at the dragon’s eyes, trying to blind it. This only served to make it angrier, its claws scrabbling on the stone floor.

The dragon drew back, prepared to lunge once more into the room.

“We have to distract it!” shouted Ruby. “Keep them safe!”

She rocketed forward, shooting at the dragon and vaulting straight overtop of it. The thing reared up, and Pyrrha and Weiss ran out after her. 

Their attacks barely did anything, only serving to aggravate it. They alternated slashes at its legs, and it shook back and forth, unable to decide who to focus on.

Weiss drew back.

“Ruby, I can summon a… I can help. Just distract it, okay?”

“Sure thing!” 

Ruby trusted Weiss wholeheartedly, hooking her scythe around part of the dragon’s leg and attempting to blast backwards. She couldn’t cut it, though, and spiraled instead, hitting the ground hard and rolling. Pyrrha picked up the slack, rocketing around to the dragon’s other side, protecting Ruby from a rogue wing with Akoúo̱.

If Weiss could summon that thing again, the thing she’d seen before, Pyrrha believed they truly stood a chance. As it was, they were only serving to annoy the dragon more and more.

With that, Ruby rocketed forward, drawn back for a powerful strike. She managed to reach right on target, dragging her scythe through the dragon’s eye as it brought its head down, teeth gnashing.

The thing roared again, and Pyrrha sunk Miló into the ground, desperately holding on as it flailed wildly. 

Its head collapsed forward, and it whipped around, mouth wide. Pyrrha saw what was going to happen, but darted forward just too late.

As the grimm brought its teeth down, it snapped its jaws right overtop of Weiss. 

“No!”

Ruby let out a guttural scream, slashing at its other eye before darting forward.

But, as usual, it was too late.

“Weiss!”

This time Pyrrha closed her eyes. She didn’t want to see this anymore. She didn’t want to be here anymore.

Another day of destruction, another life she couldn’t save.

Once more, she dreamed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I guess now is as good a time as any to say that this whole fic is just basically me experimenting with writing romance. I’ve never done that before. I’m kind of embarrassed tbh, but I must be strong, Clarence.

**Author's Note:**

> So that's this chapter! This one stuck a lot to what was seen in the last four episodes, but it'll definitely deviate a lot more from here. I plan to update every Monday, so we'll see if that happens. Sorry if it seemed a little rushed, I didn't want to write too much of what was already seen. Anyway, thanks for reading ~


End file.
